Patents recently granted to Apple include various technologies, such as digital camera calibration, and the the way a device boots under a single security model. Apple’s iPod Shuffle design, with its ultra-small footprint, with its control buttons on top, and a clip underneath, has also been cleared for the company to own.
Don Reisinger for CNET:
One of the more notable patents Apple has been granted is one related to wireless synchronization. Dubbed “Wireless synchronization between media player and host device,” the patent allows Apple to add content to a media device — presumably including a smartphone or tablet — over the air, regardless of whether it’s in a docking station or sitting in the user’s pocket.
While Apple notes in its patent that several wireless-syncing technologies have predated its filing, Apple’s technology differentiates itself by the way it handles, packages, and sends the data transfer to a client device. The company specifically states the patent is related solely to media transfers and not operating system updates.
“Although the media items of emphasis in several of the above embodiments were audio items (e.g., audio files or songs), the media items are not limited to audio items,” Apple writes in its patent. “For example, the media item can alternatively pertain to videos (e.g., movies) or images (e.g., photos).”
In one interesting patent, Apple patented how the Apple logo lights up when a MacBook Pro is opened. The patent also relates to any “illuminable portion” on a computer’s housing.
