Here is a roundup of some of the patents granted to Apple by the USPTO on November 20, 2012.
8,314,775
Multi-touch touch surface
The Background
Apparatus and methods are disclosed for simultaneously tracking multiple finger and palm contacts as hands approach, touch, and slide across a proximity-sensing, multi-touch surface. Identification and classification of intuitive hand configurations and motions enables unprecedented integration of typing, resting, pointing, scrolling, 3D manipulation, and handwriting into a versatile, ergonomic computer input device.
Many methods for manual input of data and commands to computers are in use today, but each is most efficient and easy to use for particular types of data input. For example, drawing tablets with pens or pucks excel at drafting, sketching, and quick command gestures. Handwriting with a stylus is convenient for filling out forms which require signatures, special symbols, or small amounts of text, but handwriting is slow compared to typing and voice input for long documents. Mice, finger-sticks and touchpads excel at cursor pointing and graphical object manipulations such as drag and drop. Rollers, thumbwheels and trackballs excel at panning and scrolling. The diversity of tasks that many computer users encounter in a single day call for all of these techniques, but few users will pay for a multitude of input devices, and the separate devices are often incompatible in a usability and an ergonomic sense. For instance, drawing tablets are a must for graphics professionals, but switching between drawing and typing is inconvenient because the pen must be put down or held awkwardly between the fingers while typing. Thus, there is a long-felt need in the art for a manual input device which is cheap yet offers convenient integration of common manual input techniques.
The Invention
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a system and method for integrating different types of manual input such as typing, multiple degree-of-freedom manipulation, and handwriting on a multi-touch surface.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for distinguishing different types of manual input such as typing, multiple degree-of-freedom manipulation, and handwriting on a multi-touch surface, via different hand configurations which are easy for the user to learn and easy for the system to recognize.
8,315,555
Portable media player as a remote control
A portable multimedia player is used to wirelessly access and control a media server that is streaming digital media by way of a wireless interface to a media unit such as a stereo/speakers in the case of streaming digital audio. In one embodiment, the portable multimedia player is wirelessly synchronized to a selected one(s) of a number of digital media files stored on the media server in such a way that digital media file metadata (song title, author, etc.) associated with the selected digital media file(s) only is transferred from the media server to be stored in the portable media player.
8,316,046
Journaling on mobile devices
A journaling subsystem on a mobile device stores event data related to applications or other subsystems running on the mobile device. The event data can be stored and indexed in a journal database so that a timeline of past events can be reconstructed in response to search queries. In some implementations, a timeline can be reconstructed with markers on a map display based on search results. When the user interacts with a marker on the map display, the event data collected by the mobile device is made available to the user.
8,316,147
Time synchronization of multiple time-based data streams with independent clocks
Techniques are described for synchronizing multiple time-based data streams with independent clocks wherein relationships between clock rates of timing devices associated with the time-based data streams are determined, and based on these relationships, times in at least one of the time-based data streams may be translated to times in any of the other time-based data streams despite the data streams having independent clocks.
8,316,321
Dynamically changing appearances for user interface elements during drag-and-drop operations
A user interface includes elements whose appearance dynamically changes in dependence upon functions associated with the elements. In the case of an icon that is the destination for a drag-and-drop operation, the image displayed for the icon changes in accordance with the object being dragged to it, to represent the task that will be performed as a result of the drag-and-drop operation. The appearance of other elements involved in drag-and-drop operations can also be varied, to reflect the task at hand. As a result, the user is provided with more intuitive feedback regarding the functions that will be performed by the computer as a result of a drag-and-drop operation.
8,315,746
Thermal management techniques in an electronic device
A thermal manager has a digital filter whose input is to receive raw temperature values from a sensor and whose output is to provide processed or filtered temperature values according to a filter function that correlates temperature at the sensor with temperature at another location in the device. The thermal manager has a look-up table that further correlates temperature at the sensor with temperature at the other location. The look-up table contains a list of processed temperature sensor values, and/or a list of temperatures representing the temperature at the other location, and their respective power consumption change commands. The thermal manager accesses the look-up table using selected, filtered temperature values, to identify their respective power consumption change commands. The latter are then evaluated and may be applied, to mitigate a thermal at the other location. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
