Type of Article: MacTech Blog

An Apple patent (number 8311355) for skin tone aware color boost for cameras has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. The company obviously wants to continually improve the cameras in its portable devices.

Now that the latest rev of the iPad nano isn’t suitable for wearing as a watch, perhaps Apple will release an iWatch. It might be profitable.

A new report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has valued the next-gen wearable devices market to be worth more than US$1.5 billion by 2014, up from $800 million this year. These revenues will be largely driven by consumer spending on fitness, multi-functional devices, and healthcare, according to the research group.

Apple has won several patents from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Patent number 8311988 is for consistent back-up of electronic information. In other words, it’s for the Time Machine feature of Mac OS X.

Patent number 8312371 is for a device and method for screen rotation on a touch screen display. This, of course, includes the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

By Greg Mills

I was idly wandered through the brand new Sam’s Club here in Kansas City, Kansas, Friday afternoon. The store is just around the corner from my home. A neighbor, living just a few doors down the street, is the proud manager of the giant new store.

I was there at the grand opening a couple of weeks ago and actually ate the first “tomane torpedo” sold at the food court. Where else can you get a large Nathan’s hot dog and giant soft drink for $1.50? 

There’s a litany of products killed by Apple, but a new poll by CouponCodes4u.com, a coupon code website in the US, finds that the iPhone and others of its ilk has found that cell phones are replacing many traditional household items, with the average American no longer possessing items such as calendars, calculators, alarm clocks or landlines.