Well, it’s that time of year again. The days are getting shorter, school is starting, and Apple season is beginning. What’s Apple season, you ask? It’s when Apple makes a bunch of big product releases, announces their earnings for the past fiscal year (read: money), and, now apparently, files some patents. Today, three Apple patents have surfaced. Well, let’s check ‘em out — after the jump, of course:
1. It seems that Apple may be getting a little obsessive with the cube design. First the failed G4 Cube Mac, then the cube-sahped NYC 5th Avenue Apple Store, and now maybe another Cube Mac. This latest patent shows, according to Apple, “A cubical computer housing assembly comprises first and second ends and four sides, which define an interior compartment for housing the various computer components.” Could this be the next Cube, perhaps one that runs on Intel processors? Or maybe it’s a true media center Mac, one better suited for the living room than the Mac mini? Well, at this point it’s all speculation, so who knows?
[via our buddie and ex-MacUser blogger Cyrus, over at Engadget]
2. Patent #2 seems to be some kind of multi-function handheld along the lines of next-gen iPod/iPhone/PDA (such as a modern version of the Newton). AppleInsider interviewed analyst Shaw Wu on this patent, who said last week that the iPhone has moved from concept to prototype. Shaw Wu also said in the interview that this device could be able to switch between cell phone, PDA, music player, video player, game player, digital camera, GPS, handtop, and remote control (see picture at right). Whoa, that’s a lot of functions for one device! Well, only time will tell if this prediction comes true.
[via AppleInsider]
3. Today’s final Apple patent appears to be, according to Apple, a “hand held electronic device with multiple touch sensing devices.” What could this mean? Really, anything from a touch-screen Mac to an Apple branded PDA. This one really leaves us with a ton of speculation, so it’s unclear on what type of device (or, devices) Apple will use this technology for.
[via our buddie and ex-MacUser blogger Cyrus, over at Engadget]
Well, that about wraps up today’s Apple patent coverage. While many of these patents are different, they all share one thing in common: they’re just patents, meaning that for all we know, these ideas may never even make it off of paper.
