Like every other red-blooded American, I get up everything morning, take a shower, then sit down for a nice complete breakfast while browsing the immense database of the United States Patent & Trade Office. While some might see it as an explanation of my often stultifying conversational habits, the truth that I am a cesspool of useless information is undeniable.
So let’s talk about Apple’s latest patent request: a Universal Remote device or, in patentese: an “Apparatus and method to facilitate universal remote control.” Please banish all thoughts of Adam Sandler from your mind. The patent was originally filed in August 2005, and while I could bore you with dry details, let’s instead jump straight ahead to juicy speculation.
The device in question is considerably more complicated and powerful than the Apple Remote that’s included with current Macs. For one thing, it integrates a display that shows information provided by the appliance. So the menu options on the remote would change depending on what appliance you were controlling (say, a DVD player vs. an iTV). There’s also a facility for controlling various software programs on a computer (DVD playing software, for example). The patent suggests data transmission over either IR or RF frequencies (the latter including the possibility of Bluetooth). While the demoed iTV prototype had an infrared port, there was no mention of Bluetooth capability.
However, the fact that the display on the device would seem to operate as both an information readout and a method of control would mesh nicely with Apple’s earlier no touch patent. Whether or not the remote control functionality is a feature of the next generation iPod or a completely different device is up for debate, but certain signs (the inclusion of infrared, for example) seem to suggest the latter to me. While it’s certainly possible that this device may never see the light of day, the proliferation of electronic devices in one’s life is certainly a scenario ripe for a traditional solution of Apple elegance.
