AppleInsider has the goods on yet another Apple patent, this one for a “grab and go” simplified sync solution that would let iPhone users more easily and organically share bookmarks, iTunes content, Time Machine backups, business and personal documents, video game status, etc. between Macs, Apple TVs, the cloud, and other gear real and imagined:

The filing with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office suggests a scenario where a user is sitting at their desk working on a document, when they are called into an unexpected meeting. While the user may have a number of personal applications running, they would only want to bring their work-related content with them. The preferences would allow the user to “grab” only files and data related to work from the computer.

As always, just because Apple applies for a patent doesn’t mean there are immediate (or even eventual) plans to release products that offer those features. Still, we want. How about you?

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Apple Looking at “Grab and Go” Simplified Sync for iPhone, Mac, Apple TV — Patent Watch

Apple is reviewing 100 new claims they want added on a 10+ year old patents says Peter Hoddie on Twitter.

Hoddie ran the QuickTime team at Apple after the departure of original lead, Bruce Leak, and is currently co-founder of Kinoma, which develops multimedia solutions for Windows Mobile and Nokia S60. While he didn’t elaborate on which patents or what additions were being reviewed, but given his former position, it’s not hard to imagine it has to do with Apple’s own multimedia framework.

A quick search of the US Patent Office shows Hoddie listed in the following QuickTime-related patents:

• User interface for presenting media information
• Techniques for capturing information during multimedia presentations
• Apparatus and method for storing a movie within a movie
• Methods and apparatuses for transmitting data representing multiple views of an object
• Method and apparatus for identifying user-selectable regions within multiple display frames
• Method and apparatus for synchronization of data retrieval and presentation
• System for data retrieval by scheduling retrieval if number of units scheduled equals or less than predetermined number and retrieving before or at time elapsed
• Method and apparatus for identifying user-selectable regions within multiple display frames

QuickTime has become one of the core display layers of both Mac OS X and iPhone OS X. So is Apple trying to secure against the future or setting up for some more patent pugilism? As Hoddie states, there’s clearly a reason…

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Apple Reviewing 100 New Claims to Add to 10+ Year Old (QuickTime?) Patent

Synchronization of Media State Across Multiple Devices, one of the latest patents filed by Apple, aims to use MobileMe to make sure if you start watching a movie in iTunes or on the AppleTV, then switch to your iPhone, you’re at the exact same place in the movie (and back again) — with no USB sync required.

Last month, prompted by reader Seth Clifford, TiPb asked for just such “WhisperSync” (to use the Amazon Kindle term) functionality. Not only would this be great for users with multiple Windows, Macs, iPhones, and/or iPod touches, but it would be a great way for Apple to add value to MobileMe, whose $99 a year is non-competitive to say the least, especially for Windows users (who don’t benefit from iLife, Back to my Mac, Mac sync, etc.) So, yeah, Apple — make this happen!

[Patently Apple via Macworld via Engadget. Thanks @sethclifford!]

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MobileMe Media Sync — Apple Patent Watch

Apple has applied for a patent for “provisioning” services on a mobile device based on a custom carrier profile:

Carrier provisioning profiles are distributed to computing devices via an activation service during the provisioning process. The carrier provisioning profiles specify access limitations to certain device resources which may otherwise be available to users of the device.

What this all means for the carriers is that Apple could essentially give them control of approved and unapproved features and applications that come on the iPhone at the point of purchase. So if Verizon (or China) were to carry the iPhone and they see fit to remove Wi-Fi, it can be done. Or say AT&T wants you to use their AT&T Navigation application and no other GPS applications — that too can be done. For Apple this means they free themselves from having to create various versions of firmware for each individual carrier.

Sadly for all of us, this could be a very bad sign of things to come. One of the main reasons we love the iPhone is the fact that Apple does not allow carriers to junk up the device with their own bloatware, common on other devices. Unfortunately that may all be coming to an end.

[Thanks for the tip Jeremiah! Via Arstechnica]

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Patent Watch: Apple Wants to Lock Down Your iPhone

AppleInsider has found yet another multi-touch patent application, this one expanding on Apple’s already massive portfolio to include the ability to recognize which finger is touching, distinguish between palms and fingers, and enable all manner of restin

unprecedented integration of typing, resting, pointing, scrolling, 3D manipulation, and handwriting into a versatile, ergonomic computer input device

Check out the full article for more, and let us know if you think this is more fuel for the iTablet hype machine, or if Apple could have something else up their sleeve?

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Ten-Finger, Dual-Hand Multi-Touch — Apple Patent Watch

Like an old episode of Star Trek, Apple patents provide us with a look at many possible futures for the iPhone, some of which — but not all of which — may one day be ours. Cases in point, AppleInsider rounds up the latest batch from Cupertino:

• Location-based home screen means a user would be presented with a dynamically generated Home Screen based on factors such as location (get off the plane, automagically be presented with local weather, maps, contacts, etc.)

• Speech-to-text would take what you say into the iPhone and transcribe it into editable text (similar to what many 3rd party apps offer now).

• Image transportation, where picture are automagically scaled and sent for display on a TV or similar external monitor.

• Event-based contact lists, hosted server-side, that would allow access for event participants.

• In-call file transfer would let users share a file with someone they’re already talking to on the phone.

Yeah, iPhone 4.0 is coming when again?

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Location-Based Home Screens, Speech to Text, Image Transport, Event-Based Contacts, In-Call File Transfer — Apple iPhone Patent Watch!

According to Apple Insider, Apple has filed for a patent that would help them determine (we supposed prior to fulfilling any warranted repairs) whether an end user had subjected the iPhone or iPod to abuse including such as exposing it to extreme cold, heat, or moisture:

“The system may include an interface by which a diagnostic device may access the memory to analyze the records and determine whether a consumer abuse event occurred, when the event occurred, and, in some embodiments, what type of abuse event occurred,” the patent reads. “By providing the capability to quickly and easily detect whether consumer abuse occurred in an electronic device, a vendor or manufacturer diagnosing a returned product may be able to better determine whether or not to initiate a product return under a warranty policy.”

Yet Apple has also applied for a Karaoke patent, which for some poor iPhones or iPods, may end up being a far worse form of torture…

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Patent Watch: Apple Taking Stand Against Abused iPhones

Apple Insider brings us a huge roundup of recent Apple iPhone-related patent filings.

First up is an ID App which lets users select from RFID, camera, or infrared input, or location data like GPS, to identify objects in their surroundings. (We’ll spare you the tricorder jokes…)

Second is an outgoing voicemail recorder, which would record not the messages you receive, but those you leave for others.

Third is a way to sell iPhones and iPod’s with pre-selected content. Metadata would be inserted during or just after manufacturing that would then download the content automagically when the user receives the device.

Fourth is for SMS parental controls, to filter out “objectionable content”, and fifth would determine successful receipt of an SMS.

As always, there’s no telling when, or if, Apple will ever actually ship any devices using any of these features. But it’s fun to imagine the possibilities…

Waves iPhone around and makes tricorder noise

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iPhone Patent Watch: ID App, Outgoing Voicemail Recorder, Pre-Selected Content, SMS Parental Controls, and SMS Confirmation

A slew of new Apple patent applications have come to light covering a rather odd range of functionality that may — or may not — make it into future iPhone software and hardware models.

First up is haptic feedback via a “grid of piezoelectronic actuators”, which would provide a varied tactile response when touching the iPhone screen to better orient users (and let them type without locking their eyes on the keyboard, ideally).

Second is a technology that seeks to identify fingerprints — i.e. not only that a user has touched the screen, but which specific finger touched the screen. So, for example, touching with the index finger would produce a different reaction than touching with the middle finger.

Third is for placing a RFID (radio frequency identification) reader in the screen so that, in addition to finger touches (and multi-touches), it could identify the unique tag given to objects as well.

Lastly is a method for letting users sing to the iPhone, and having the iPhone provide feedback on tone, pitch, etc. Basically, rating the quality of your karaoke — or of the latest pre-packaged Hollywood auto-tune single, we imagine.

Again, there’s no telling when, or if at all, Apple will release real-world products based on these patents, but they do give some hint as to which direction(s) Apple’s thinking.

Anyone want any of the them now?

[Via MacRumors twice]

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iPhone Patent Watch: Haptics, Biometrics, RFID, and… Karaoke?!

Apple Insider has unearthed another very cool, who-knows-if-they’ll-ever-deploy-it, Apple patent pertaining to the iPhone. This one, credited to engineer Jeffrey Terlizzi pertains to media file sharing while already on a phone call:

“For example, the user may initiate a telephone call with his friend in order to ask the friend if she is familiar with a particular song,” Apple said. “Once the phone call has been established between the user and his friend, the user may select the song of interest from his communications device, and he may send the song to his friend over the same communication path used by the communications device to establish the communications operation, so that the two may continue their phone conversation while the song plays simultaneously.”

In addition to music, video, photos, voicemail, and podcasts are also mentioned, as are requests in the form of video conferencing (oh, hi, Mobile iChat!), and control over media playback during a call.

Forget 3.0, let the rumors for 3.1 and 4.0 begin! (Joking! A little…)

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Patent Watch: Apple Adding “Add Media” to iPhone Phone App?