The US Patent & Trademark Office has published a patent application from Apple for a “graphical user interface and methods of use thereof in a multimedia player,” as noted by the MacObserver. The summary for the patent, which was originally filed on Oct. 28, 2002, reads: “The invention described herein pertains to a user interface that provides for a user friendly and efficient retrieval of stored multimedia asset files. In one embodiment, a method of assisting user interaction with a multimedia asset player by way of a hierarchically ordered user interface is described. A first order user interface having a first list of user selectable items is displayed and a user selection of one of the user selectable items is received. Based upon the user selection, automatically transitioning to and displaying a second order user interface.”
