Apple has applied for another patent that leads more weight to the rumours surrounding the release of an iPhone. This patent application deals with an iTunes like client on a phone and how a mobile phone would interact with the iTunes store.

This is a great idea from Apple- often I have my iPod safely tucked away in my bag and want to change songs- at the moment basically all you can do is go next or previous- navigating the menu system of the iPod is impossible without looking at the screen. This patent application looks at adding a voice menu system to the iPod so you could navigate the menus without looking at the screen (great for driving etc). The Voice menu system can also act like a radio DJ announcing each song (I can imagine that getting quite annoying).

A new Apple patent application shows Apple’s plans for virtual keyboards. Interestingly one of the figures shows a keyboard similar the virtual keyboard on the Ultra-Mobile PC platform. These arc-like virtual keyboards are perhaps an obvious solution to allow input while holding the devices. Apple filed for this patent on September 16 last year (surely after Microsoft had come up with its prototypes?).

Peer to Peer sharing by iChat in Apple Patent Application

In a new Apple patent application Apple details putting some peer-to-peer sharing capabilities. Not so much to set information free but as a means of selling more songs through the iTunes music store. Other features would the ability to be more aware of what other iChat users were up to (open documents, movies watched, songs listen to etc). A Brave new world?

New Apple patent applications describe a new trackpad design and also FingerWorks-like gestures for doing common tasks like Copy, Paste etc. Those of you who are convinced an Apple tablet is on its way should get a head start and start learning the gestures- there are only thirty-eight! As soon as you buy the Apple tablet you can impress everyone with your mastering of the “exit application” gesture- it’s easy and ‘involves a touch with clockwise rotation of spread thumb and three fingers on the track pad device.’

Apple has applied for lots of patents for touchsensitive iPod/tablets but what does this mean? Are these patent applications going to become actual products? This article looks at Apple’s track record for patenting released products.

Operation of a computer with touch screen interface

It is desirable to use the information about a user’s actions to make the user experience with the computer, via the touch screen virtual keyboard, more powerful than is usual (or, perhaps, even possible) with computers using external keyboards.

Glimpse of Apple’s OS X 10.5 – Leopard in Pat. Apps? Some Apple patents for Spotlight have recently surfaced and they show sides of the Finder we haven’t seen before. Apple is expected to release the next version of OS X – 10.5 “Leopard” by the end of 2006 or early 2007. Little information has [...]

Apple has decided to lodge a Patent Application covering the use of a wide trackpad in a Power/MacBook. Nothing too earth shattering and it doesn’t appear to be a multipoint touchpad like described in previous patent applications.

Touchscreen video iPod? fact or fiction?
I want to believe! I hope Apple makes the touchscreen video iPod and soon- but I don’t think this latest mock up is the real thing.