Type of Article: MacTech Blog

An Apple patent (number 8243041) for multi-touch input discrimination has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. It relates generally to data input methods and devices for electronic equipment and, more particularly, to methods and devices for discriminating between various inputs to a multi-touch touch-surface input device.

An Apple patent (number 8245147) for a system and method for reordering an user interface has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. It relates to dynamic user interfaces and more specifically to reordering groups of user interface elements accessing a highly structured document.

In a recent note to clients, Barclay analyst Ben Reitzes says the market for consumer desktops could see pressure in the wake of an Apple-branded HDTV (the rumored “iTV”) in “much the same way that the overall notebook market’s growth slowed after the introduction of the iPad.” I beg to differ.

“The reason is that an Apple TV would represent an easy way to check email and the web as well as share photos (and even edit them in the same way as an iPhone/iPad can),”Reitzes.

An Apple patent (number 8243905) for a multi-participant conference set-up has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. The architecture has one participant’s computer in the conference act as a central content distributor for the conference.

An Apple patent (number 8243017) for a menu overlay including a context dependent menu icon has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. It shows that Apple is investigating cable and satellite connectivity for its Apple TV set-top box and may hint at features of the rumored Apple-branded HDTV (the “iTV”).