patent
By MacRumors Staff
patent Articles
Apple Patents Ability to Take Long Distance Group Selfies
Apple has won a new patent that would allow for "synthetic group selfies," as mentioned by The Verge. Should this software be successfully developed, users would have the ability to take group selfies while not physically present with anyone.
Based on the patent application, it appears a user could invite others to take part in a group selfie, and the individuals would be arranged...
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iPhones and iPads Could Someday Automatically Adjust Screen Orientation Using Face ID
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today published a new Apple patent application that describes a facial recognition system like Face ID being used to automatically update the orientation of a device like an iPhone or iPad, as noted by AppleInsider.
The patent notes that the portrait or landscape orientation of a mobile device is currently determined using accelerometers or other sensors...
Apple Patents Tech That Could Solve The Biggest Issue With Current Foldable Devices
Apple today has been granted a patent for technology that could potentially be used to circumvent the issue of foldable displays creasing and cracking at the fold over time – a problem that has plagued many consumer foldable devices that have made it to market thus far.
Published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office under the heading "System with multiple electronic devices," the patent...
Apple Patents Foldable Device With Movable Flaps to Prevent Display From Creasing
Apple this week has been granted a patent for a foldable device with a unique hinge mechanism that utilizes movable flaps to help prevent the display from being creased or damaged when folded.
Published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today, the patent explains that the hinge mechanism would ensure adequate separation between the first and second portions of the display. When the...
Apple Patent Imagines iMac Made From a Single Sheet of Glass
Apple has all kinds of fanciful patents for imaginative devices that will likely never come to fruition, such as an iMac-like desktop computer made entirely of glass, which was shared last week in a patent published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Apple's patent describes an electronic device with an upper portion that serves as a display area, a lower portion that serves as...
Patent Describes Apple Watch Feature for Improving Treatment of Parkinson's Disease Symptoms
A newly unearthed patent reveals that Apple is exploring how a future Apple Watch could help doctors monitor the symptoms of Parkinson's patients. Spotted by AppleInsider, "Passive Tracking of Dyskinesia/Tremor Symptoms" describes the use of special sensors in a proposed Apple Watch medical feature and the reasoning behind it.
"There are an estimated 600,000 to 1 million cases of...
Apple Watch Bands With Self-Tightening, Skin Texture Authentication, and LED Progress Bar Detailed in Patents
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today granted Apple several patents for smart Apple Watch bands with features such as biometric authentication, self-tightening, and an LED progress indicator, as noted by Patently Apple.
Apple Watch with biometric sensor The first patent describes an Apple Watch band with a sensor that can authenticate the wearer based on patterns in their wrist's...
Apple Has Explored Adding Positionable Cameras to Apple Watch Bands
Apple has explored the idea of adding a camera to the Apple Watch, although not in the way one might expect. MacRumors mockup of Apple Watch with camera band The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today granted Apple a patent that describes an Apple Watch band with a camera or optical sensor affixed to the end of it. This would enable the Apple Watch to capture photos and video, with the ...
First U.S. Jury Trial Begins Today in Apple-Qualcomm Legal Battle
In July 2017, Qualcomm filed suit against Apple in San Diego federal court, accusing the iPhone maker of infringing on six U.S. patents related to graphics processing architecture, power consumption, and envelope tracking technologies. Nearly two years later, the case is finally headed to trial.
The trial begins today with jury selection, with proceedings expected to take up to two weeks. It ...
Foldable iPhones Could Have Self-Heating Displays to Avoid Damage in Cold Weather
The foldable smartphone era is in full swing with the recent introductions of the Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X, and while it remains unclear if Apple will follow suit, the company has at least explored ideas related to foldable smartphones in patent applications over the past few years.
Huawei Mate X In a patent application published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today,...
Apple Faces Yet Another Patent Lawsuit in East Texas Over LTE Standards
Last week, we reported on Apple's plans to close its retail stores in the Eastern District of Texas in April in an effort to avoid patent infringement lawsuits in the jurisdiction, perceived by many as being "patent troll friendly."
Ahead of the closures, Apple faces yet more patent litigation in the district. A group of limited liability companies under the Optis Wireless Technology, LLC...
Apple Outlines How Augmented Reality Glasses Could Overlay Points of Interest
Multiple reports suggest that Apple is developing an augmented reality headset or glasses that could be released by 2020 or 2021, and a newly granted Apple patent may provide some broad clues about potential features.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday granted Apple a patent describing a "method for representing points of interest in a view of a real environment on a mobile...
Apple Plans to Close Stores in Eastern District of Texas in Fight Against Patent Trolls [Updated]
Apple plans to close both of its retail stores within the Eastern District of Texas in a few months from now in an effort to protect itself from patent trolls, according to five sources familiar with the matter.
Apple Willow Bend in Plano, Texas and Apple Stonebriar in Frisco, Texas, both located in the northern suburbs of Dallas, are expected to permanently close in mid April. One source...
Apple Wins Patent on Long-Delayed AirPods Wireless Charging Case and AirPower
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today published a newly granted Apple patent related to an "inductively chargeable earbud case." While the AirPods and AirPower are not named in the patent, the illustrations clearly show an AirPods-like wireless charging case on an AirPower-like charging mat.
Many current inductive charging mats require precisely aligning a smartphone or other device...
Apple Exploring Flexible Display Designs for Future Apple Watch
Apple this week was awarded a patent for a potential Apple Watch design featuring a flexible microLED display that integrates with and encompasses almost the entire watch band.
Titled "Display Module and System Applications" and published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, Apple's patent explores several designs that could one day make it into a future Apple Watch.
In the ...
Future HomePod Could Feature 3D Hand Gestures and Face ID
A recently published Apple patent application suggests that a future HomePod could feature support for 3D hand gestures, Face ID, and much more.
While the patent application does not refer to the HomePod by name, it describes a voice-controlled assistant device such as a "countertop speaker" with various sensors and cameras that "gather hand gestures and other three-dimensional gesture...
Apple Exploring New Glass Panel MacBook Keyboards That Could End Sticky Key Problems
Apple is exploring a new keyboard design that could eventually replace its butterfly switch MacBook keyboards and finally solve the problem of "sticky" or inconsistently functioning keys.
Issues that Apple has acknowledged can occur with some current MacBook keyboards are widely believed to be caused by dust or other particulates getting lodged in the butterfly mechanism underneath the...
Apple Settles Lawsuit With Biometric Sensor Company Valencell That Accused it of Stealing Technology for Apple Watch
Biometric sensor company Valencell has reportedly settled a three-year-old lawsuit against Apple that accused the tech giant of stealing its technology for Apple Watch.
Valencell filed the patent infringement lawsuit against Apple back in January 2016 at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. The lawsuit accused the Cupertino-based company of infringing on...
Apple Wins Appeal in Wisconsin Patent Lawsuit
Back in July 2017, U.S. District Judge William Conley ordered Apple to pay $506 million to the University of Wisconsin's Alumni Research Foundation for infringing on a patent related to computer processing technology in the company's A7, A8, and A8X chips. Conley had added $272 million on top of an existing $234 million in damages that a jury ordered Apple to pay in 2015, around when the lawsuit...
Siri at Center of Latest Patent Lawsuit Filed Against Apple
Arizona-based speech recognition technology company AVRS, short for Advanced Voice Recognition Systems, Inc., has filed a lawsuit against Apple this week, accusing the iPhone maker of infringing on one of its patents with its virtual assistant Siri, according to court documents obtained by MacRumors.
The asserted patent is U.S. Patent No. 7,558,730, titled "Speech recognition and...
