Apple has been granted several patent wins by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Following is a summary of each.

Design patent D650811 is for the second gen iPod shuffle design. The inventors are Bartley Andre, Daniel Coster, Jonathan Ive, Daniele De Iuliis, Richard Howarth, Steve Jobs, Duncan Kerr, Shin Nishibori, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Douglas Satzger, Christopher Stringer, Calvin Seid, Eugene Whang and Rico Zorkendorfer.

Patent 20110294551 is for missed telephone call management for a portable multifunction device. In one aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method is disclosed for use in conjunction with a portable electronic device with a touch screen display. A list of items comprising missed telephone calls is displayed. Upon detecting user selection of an item in the list, contact information is displayed for a respective caller corresponding to the user selected item.

The displayed contact information includes a plurality of contact objects that include a first contact object, comprising a telephone number object having a first telephone number associated with the missed telephone call, and a second contact object. Upon detecting user selection of the second contact object, a communication with the respective caller is initiated via a modality corresponding to the second contact object. The inventors are Greg Christie, Scott Forstall, Stephen Lemay, Marcel Van Os and Imran Chaudhri.

Patent number 8082376 involves communication between an accessory and a media player with multiple protocol versions. The inventor is for an interface and protocol allow a media player to communicate with external accessories over a transport link. The protocol includes a core protocol functionality and a number of accessory lingoes.

Examples of accessory lingoes include a microphone lingo, a simple remote lingo, a display remote lingo, an RF transmitter lingo, and an extended interface lingo.The inventors are Emily Clark Schubert, Wang Chung Leung, Gregory T. Lydon, Scott Krueger, Paul Philip Holden, John Archibald, Lawrence G. Bolton, Donald J. Novotney, John Benjamin Filson and David Tupman.

Patent number 8082319 is for publishing and subscribing to digital image feeds. Techniques are provided for publishing digital image feeds, where the feeds are automatically created and uploaded to a server along with the images described in the feed, along with techniques for subscribing to digital image feeds, where the feed is downloaded and the images described therein are automatically downloaded and organized. The feeds may be subscribed to and automatically updated. The inventors are Aaron Disario, Joshua Fagans, Christopher N. Ryan and Jeffrey Robbin.

Patent number 80819546 involves a system and method for determining mobile device capabilities. Methodologies and system functionality are provided to determine mobile device capabilities and/or configuration setting and user abilities and/or inclinations as a precursor to or as part of the management, delivery and/or assessment of the efficacy of promotional material.

The determination of the mobile device capabilities and/or configuration settings and user abilities and/or inclinations may be performed, for example, when provisioning a new service or after such a service has been utilized by a mobile device user. Further, such a determination may be performed in connection with a mobile device service that provides free or subsidized service to mobile device users. The inventors are Janne Aaltonen, Sami Saru and Timo Romppanen.

Patent number 8081430 is for microperforated and backlit displays having alternative display capabilities. A visual display having microperforations, backlighting and contrasting surface finishes is disclosed. The visual display includes an opaque base object having a front surface and a plurality of microperforations therethrough from the front surface to a back surface. Each microperforation has a diameter of about 100 microns or less, and numerous microperforations are arranged into an overall pattern, such as a logo, text or advertisement.

A light source placed proximate to the back surface passes light through the microperforations to be visible at the front surface, such that the overall pattern can be visibly perceived when the light source is turned on. A contrasting surface finish formed on the front surface includes at least two visibly distinguishable shades, with one shade covering at least a portion of the front surface defined by the overall pattern, such that the overall pattern can be seen when the light source is turned off. Douglas Weber and Naoto Matsuyuki are the inventors.

Patent number 8081930 involves trace functionality in a mobile device. Systems and methods are provided for tracing parameters indicative of performance of a mobile device that is not tethered to a host computer. The mobile device is instructed to monitor a performance characteristic when the mobile device is not tethered to the host computer. The instructions may be to trace the characteristic at a certain point, for a span in the future, under certain conditions, or at all times.

When the mobile device is later tethered to the host computer, the traced parameter data is transferred to the host computer. Applications that decrease performance, as indicated by the traced parameters, may be debugged or optimized. The behavior of the mobile device before, during, and after tethering to the host computer or to a second device may be observed. The performance of a plurality of untethered mobile devices may also be traced, transferred, and compared. Steve Lewallen is the inventor.

-- Dennis Sellers