Several Apple patents have popped up at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Following is a summary of each.

Patent number 8140975 involves slide show navigation. Per the patent, a slide show, integrated into an email application, displays images such as those included as an attachment to an email message. The user can view the slide show without exiting the email application. Slide show navigation controls are provided. An index sheet mode can be activated wherein a number of thumbnails are displayed, allowing easy navigation to any image within the slide show. Transition animations can be provided for clarifying operations such as activating and dismissing the index sheet. The inventors are Stephen Lemay, Gregory N. Christie, Marcel van Os and Hans-Werner Neubrand.

Patent number 8140809 is for computer implemented masked representation of data tables. In the computer software field, method and apparatus to obfuscate (mask or hide) computer data which is part of or accessed by a computer program. The method in this patent protects (hides) accesses to tables of data in terms of the place or position of each element in the table. It does this by providing an intermediate table which describes the positions of the elements of the first table or tables, but in a transformed (modified) fashion. The inventors are Augustin J. Farrugia, Mathieu Ciet and Pierre Betouin.

Patent number 8140116 involves duplex audio for mobile communication device and accessory. In some embodiments, the accessory can selectably operate in a duplex audio mode, concurrently sending audio to and receiving audio from the mobile communication device, or in another audio mode. In duplex audio mode, the accessory can enable its internal audio processing operations (e.g., echo cancellation) while the mobile communication device disables its corresponding internal operations or vice versa. The mobile communication device can control when the accessory transitions into and/or out of duplex audio mode. The inventors are Jason J. Yew and Lawrence G. Bolton.

Patent number 8138977 is for antennas for handheld electronic devices. Per the patent handheld electronic devices are provided that contain wireless communications circuitry. The wireless communications circuitry may include antenna structures. An antenna may be located in an upper right corner of the handheld device as the handheld device is operated in a portrait mode. When the handheld device is rotated counterclockwise and operated in a landscape mode, the antenna is located in an unobstructed upper left corner of the device. The antenna may be formed from a strip of conductor. A proximal end of the strip of conductor may be connected to a transmission line. A distal end of the strip of conductor may be routed away from housing surfaces by bends formed in the strip. A printed circuit board in the handheld electronic device may have a hole. The distal end of the strip of conductor may be located adjacent to the hole. The inventors are Zhijun Zhang, Fletcher R. Rothkopf, Robert W. Schlub and Ruben Caballero.

Patent number 8149570 involves automatic discovery of metadata. This is directed to processing stored data to automatically generate metadata for the stored data. In particular, this is directed to identifying metadata associated with stored data, and identifying other data that relates to the stored data from one or more sources. A processing module can identify other data sharing some of the identified metadata, and can extract additional metadata associated with the identified other data. The extracted metadata can then be associated with the user's stored data. The processing module can extract additional metadata from any suitable source, including for example local application data, social networks or blogging sources, and other remote sources. In some embodiments, an electronic device can retrieve data from other users for a particular event based on metadata associated with the user's data for the event to form a master collection of data. The inventors are Michael Ingrassia, Jeffery Lee and Dave Rempei.

Patent number 814714 is for media management and routing within an electronic device. An apparatus for intelligently routing and managing audio signals within an electronic device is disclosed. The routing is responsive to a set of logical and physical policies which are stored in data tables which can be updated as needed. The inventors are Jason D. Batson, Meriko L. Borogove, Gregory R. Chapman, Patrick L. Coffman, Anthony J. Guetta, Aram Lindahl and Andrew Rostaing.

Patent number 8140729 involves a method and apparatus for arbitration on a full-duplex bus using dual phases. The invention provides for a plurality of arbitration phases and an arbitration advancing means. Michael D. Johas Teener is the inventor.

Patent number 8140972 involves sticky functionality. Manipulation of elements in a graphical user interface is aided by allowing the graphical user interface to treat certain mouse button actuation and releases as holding the mouse button in an actuated state. When predetermined conditions are satisfied, the graphical user interface will treat a mouse button actuation and release as if the mouse button were held in an actuated state. A user can then manipulate elements in the graphical user interface as if the user held the mouse button in an actuated state. The types of manipulation can include the moving of a window, the resizing of a window, moving an icon, and the scrolling through the visible portion of a window. Eric Schlegel is the inventor.

Patent number 8140418 is for cardholder-not-present authorization. This is provided a method and system for real-time authorization of cardholder-not-present transactions. An authorization request application may be implemented on an electronic device, such as a cellular phone, a personal media player, or a computer. A cardholder may register a card account, such as a credit account, a debit account, a gift card account, and so forth, for participation in the real-time authorization program. The cardholder may then receive authorization requests when cardholder-not-present transactions are attempted. Via the authorization request application, the cardholder may approve or decline the authorization request. In addition, the cardholder may configure settings for automatically responding to missed authorization requests. The authorization request application may also allow the cardholder to flag automatically approved requests as unauthorized within a certain time period after an automatic approval response is sent, thereby enabling prompt detection of fraudulent activity. The inventors are Brandon J. Casey, Gary Wipfler and Erik Cressall.