Several Apple patents have been granted by the US Patent & Trademark Office. Following is a summary of each.

Patent number 7844914 involves activating virtual keys of a touch-screen virtual keyboard. A touch location is determined based on location data pertaining to touch input on the touch screen, wherein the touch input is intended to activate one of the plurality of virtual keys. Each of the plurality of virtual keys has a set of at least one key location corresponding to it. For each of the virtual keys, a parameter (such as physical distance) is determined for that virtual key that relates the touch location and the set of at least one key location corresponding to that virtual key. The determined parameters are processed to determine one of the virtual keys. For example, the determined one virtual key may be the virtual key with a key location (or more than one key location, on average) being closest to the touch location. A signal is generated indicating activation of the determined one of the virtual keys. The inventors are Bartley K. Andre, Bas Ording and Greg Christie.

Patent number 7844915 is for application programming interfaces for scrolling operations. At least certain embodiments of the present disclosure include an environment with user interface software interacting with a software application. A method for operating through an application programming interface (API) in this environment includes transferring a set bounce call. The method further includes setting at least one of maximum and minimum bounce values. The set bounce call causes a bounce of a scrolled region in an opposite direction of a scroll based on a region past an edge of the scrolled region being visible in a display region at the end of the scroll. The inventors are Andrew Platzer and Scott Herz.

Patent number 7843687 is for a latching mechanism. An electronic device is disclosed. The electronic device may include a first side and a second side. The electronic device may also include a lid configured to cover an opening on the first side. The lid may include an interior side. The interior side may be invisible from outside of the electronic device when the lid covers the opening. The electronic device may also include a latching mechanism including a slider configured to slide along at least one of the lid and the first side for latching the lid at the interior side. The electronic device may also include a control unit disposed on the second side and configured to actuate movement of the slider. The inventors are Ricardo Mariano, Gregory Springer, Peter Russell-Calrke, Daniele De Iuliis and Boyu Lin.

Patent number 7844842 involves a variable refresh rate for power management. Per the patent, a data processing system refreshes a display at a first frequency when operating in a first power mode. The data processing system refreshes the display at a second frequency when operating in a second mode. The first frequency is higher than the second frequency, and the second power mode is configured to consume less power than the first power mode. The inventors are Assana Fard and Haroon Saleem Sheikh.

Patent number 7844498 involves online purchasing of digital media bundles having interactive content. In one embodiment, techniques are provided for interacting with an online media store to obtain a media asset bundle, such as a digital boxset. These techniques involve, for instance, browsing for a media asset bundle that includes at least one interactive playable media asset, purchasing the media asset bundle, obtaining the media assets contained in the media asset bundle, determining if a presentation request has been made for a media asset in the media asset bundle, and presenting the requested media asset. The inventors are Jeffrey L. Robbin, David Heller, Mike Wiese, Patrice Gautier and Ellis M. Verosub.

Patent number 7844548 is for techniques and systems for electronic submission of media for network-based distribution. . The submission of media to the media distribution site is able to be performed by numerous submitters in a uniform and computer-assisted manner. The submitted media can then be encoded in a largely automated manner at the media distribution site into a suitable digital form and then made available for online purchase and distribution. The inventors are Gregory Robbin, David Heller and Max Muller.

-- Dennis Sellers