Apple granted patents for the design of the iMac, iPod, dock insert

Posted by Dennis Sellers Dec 1, 2009 at 11:55am

The US Patent & Trademark Office has granted Apple patents for the design of the iMac, the iPod,

Patent number D605193 is for the ornamental design of the iMac. The inventors are Bartley K. Andre, Daniel J. Coster, Daniele De Iuliis, Richard P. Howarth, Jonathan P. Ive, Steve Jobs, Duncan Robert Kerr, Shin Nishibori, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Peter Russell-Clarke, Douglas B. Satzger, Calvin Q. Seid, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang and Rico Zorkendorfer.

Patent number 7627343 is for a media player (the iPod, natch). One aspect of the media player system pertains to a docking station that allows a media player to communicate with other media devices. Another aspect of the media player system pertains to a wireless media player system that includes a hand held media player capable of transmitting information over a wireless connection and one or more media devices capable of receiving information over the wireless connection. Another aspect of the media player system pertains to a method of wirelessly connecting the hand held media player to another device. The method includes selecting a media item on the hand held media player; selecting one or more remote recipients on the hand held media player; and transmitting the media item locally to the hand held media player, and wirelessly to the selected remote recipients.

Another aspect of the media player system pertains to a hand held music player that includes a transmitter for transmitting information over a wireless connection. The transmitter is configured to at least transmit a continuous music feed to one or more personal tuning devices that each include a receiver capable of receiving information from the transmitter over the wireless connection. Yet another aspect of the media player system pertains to a connector that includes a housing and a plurality of spatially separated contacts mounted within the housing. A first set of contacts are directed at a first functionality and a second set of contacts are directed at a second functionality that is different than the first functionality. The inventors are Anthony M. Fadell, Stephen Paul Zadesky and John Benjamin Filson.

Patent number D605174 is for the ornamental design of a dock insert for the iPod and iPhone. The inventors are Bartley K. Andre, Daniel J. Coster, Daniele De Iuliis, Richard P. Howarth, Jonathan P. Ive, Steve Jobs, Duncan Robert Kerr, Shin Nishibori, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Peter Russell-Clarke, Douglas B. Satzger, Calvin Q. Seid, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang and Rico Zorkendorfer.

Six other Apple patents have also appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. Here’s a summary of each.

Patent number 7627590 is for a system and method for dynamically presenting a summary of content associated with a document. A method and system for generating a summary of a document for display to a user on a display are provided. In one implementation, the method includes receiving a first document originally spanning several paragraphs in length, and generating a first summary of the first document, in which the first summary spanning a length less than the original several paragraphs of the first document. The method further includes dynamically displaying the first summary to the user on the display including showing words or short phrases of the first summary at a same location in the display serially one word or short phrase after another. Each word or short phrase is less than a complete sentence. The inventors are Branimir Boguraev, Rachel Katherine Emma Bellamy and Yin Yin Wong.

Patent number 7627653 involves a method and apparatus for distributing computer files across a network. One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for distributing files across a network. During operation, the system receives a request at a server to download a file to a client. If the server is not currently downloading the file, the system commences a download stream for the file on a multicast port. If the server is currently downloading the file, the system remembers a marked location on the file, wherein the marked location relates to a current packet number of the download stream on the multicast port. The system then continues downloading the file until the end of the file, thereby allowing the client to receive the remainder of the file. Next, the system downloads the file from the beginning of the file to the marked location, thereby allowing the client to receive previously transmitted portions of the file. The inventors are Minoru Taoyama and Arthur Truong.

Patent number 7627481 is for adapting masking thresholds for encoding a low frequency transient signal in audio data. It in improved audio coding technique encodes audio having a low frequency transient signal, using a long block, but with a set of adapted masking thresholds. Upon identifying an audio window that contains a low frequency transient signal, masking thresholds for the long block may be calculated as usual. A set of masking thresholds calculated for the 8 short blocks corresponding to the long block are calculated. The masking thresholds for low frequency critical bands are adapted based on the thresholds calculated for the short blocks, and the resulting adapted masking thresholds are used to encode the long block of audio data. The result is encoded audio with rich harmonic content and negligible coder noise resulting from the low frequency transient signal. The inventors are Shy-Shiaw Kuo and Frank Baumgarte.

Patent number 7627128 involves methods of calibrating tone-based communication systems. Electronic devices and accessories such as headsets for electronic devices are provided. A microphone may be included in an accessory to capture sound for an associated electronic device. Buttons and other user interfaces may be included in the accessories. An accessory may have an audio plug that connects to a mating audio jack in an electronic device, thereby establishing a wired communications link between the accessory and the electronic device. The electronic device may include power supply circuitry for applying bias voltages to the accessory. The bias voltages may bias a microphone and may adjust settings in the accessory such as settings related to operating modes. User input information may be conveyed between the accessory and the electronic device using ultrasonic tone transmission. The electronic device may also gather input from the accessory using a voltage detector coupled to lines in the communications path. The inventors are Wendell B. Sander, Jeffrey Terlizzi and Douglas M. Farrar.

Patent number 7627451 involves movement and event systems and associated methods. The invention provides a smart sensor in the form of an adhesive bandage. The sensor sticks to people and objects and wirelessly communicates with remote receivers. Internal detectors sense conditions associated with movement or the environment of the sensor. Typically, sensors of the invention communicate by an RF transmitter or transceiver. Groups of sensors may be combined within a common canister that imparts date and time information and “power on” when dispensed. The inventors are Curtis A. Vock, Burl W. Amsbury, Eric R. Edstrom, Robert Muir Holme, Paul Jonjak, Adrian F. Larkin and Perry Youngs.

Patent number 7627614 is for a transfer function and high dynamic range images. It involves methods and apparatuses to derive at least one exposure function for high dynamic range imaging from images of different exposure durations. In one aspect, a method to generate a high dynamic range image from a plurality of images taken with a plurality of exposure durations respectively, includes: computing an exposure function from the plurality of images; and combining the plurality of images into a high dynamic range (HDR) image using the exposure function. In one example of an embodiment, the exposure function is evaluated through: evaluating first data representing a derivative of the exposure function from pixel values of the plurality of images; and integrating the first data to generate second data representing the exposure function. The inventor is Gabriel G. Marcu.

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