Earlier this year, Ben Bajarin, principal analyst at Creative Strategies, wrote an essay (http://macte.ch/YP2WT) in which he says that we're entering the true era of personal computing rather than entering the "post-PC" era.

He's right -- and that's why the iPad should be considered a "real" personal computer when research groups such as IDC and Gartner calculate market share. According to "Webster's Dictionary," the word "personal" means "relating to, or affecting, a particular person." What better fits that description than an iPhone, iPod or iPad -- not to mention the Mac?

It seems to me that there are now three categories of personal computers: desktops, laptops and tablets/ultramobile devices. And all three will coexist.

As Bajarin notes: ".... tablets in particular are not replacing PCs, at least not in the foreseeable future.  Rather what is happening is tasks or jobs are being replaced...

With iTunes slated to take over the entire digital world of entertainment, a new Apple patent (number 2012101944) shows the company wants to make it even easier for you to "gift" people with items from the store.

Per the patent -- for a system and method for processing media gifts -- various techniques are provided for the gifting between multiple electronic devices of media content provided by an online digital media provider. An offer and acceptance of a selected gift file is accomplished between a gifter device and a receiving giftee device using a near-field communication (NFC) connection.

If a connection to the online provider is available, the gifter device may transmit a gift request by which the gifter's account is charged for the gift file. Thereafter, a gift file created using DRM keys associated with the giftee's account may be downloaded to the giftee device. If a network connection is unavailable, the giftee device may transfer a locked gift file and a...

Apple's explosive rally from near $350.00/share last November to well over $600.00/share earlier this month has left many traders talking about whether the stock is now in a bubble and whether it will burst. The answer to that is "no."

"Fundamental and technical indicators have been sending conflicting signals about whether Apple is in a bubble From Nov. 25 through April 9," says Colin Cieszynski, senior market analyst at CMC Markets (http://www.cmcmarkets.co.uk/) Canada. "Apple shares gained 74.9%. Over the same time frame, the Dow Industrials went up 15.1%. The company also has blasted through the high end of a channel and the chart has gone parabolic or nearly vertical. Technically this suggests that Apple is probably in a bubble and vulnerable. In contrast,fundamental indicators suggest that the stock could still have room to run for a while.”

To me, it looks as if the stock will run...

Apple has been granted a patent (number 8166415) by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for an user interface for backup management -- namely, for its Time Machine software in Mac OS X.

The patent involves methods and a computer program product for providing a user interface including earlier versions of data. In one implementation, a method is provided. The method includes receiving, while a current view is displayed in a user interface, a first user input requesting that a backup interface be displayed. In response to the first user input, the transition from displaying the current view in the user interface to displaying the backup interface is animated.

The backup interface is displayed including a display area for presenting at least a first visual representation of an earlier version of the current view, where the earlier version includes a first element. While the backup interface is displayed, a second user input is received requesting that the current...

Forget Think Different. iPad users Shop Different, according to new data by RichRelevance, a provider of dynamic personalization for the world’s largest retailers and brands.

The company's report, "The 2012 Q1 Shopping Insights Mobile Study" (http://www.richrelevance.com/insights/mobile-shopping/), finds a steady rise in mobile share of revenue from 1.9% in April 2011 to 4.6% in March 2012, with the iPad driving nearly all shopping, browsing and purchasing in this emerging channel.

According to the study:

° iPad users spent significantly more time and money on retail sites than other mobile users.

° iPad users constitute the bulk of all mobile shoppers -- accounting for about two-thirds (68%) of shoppers.

° The iPad accounts for 90% of all mobile revenue (and 4% of total retail revenue).

° Conversion rates...

Download an app from the Mac App Store or the Apple App Store, and Apple plans to make sure you're using it per the company's enforcement policy, according to a patent (number 20120095877) at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Disclosed are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media for enforcing application usage policies. As part of an application purchase transaction, the application distributor creates a unique proof of purchase receipt. This receipt can be bundled with the application and delivered to the purchaser. Each machine can maintain an authorization file that lists the users authorized to use applications on that machine.

A system configured to practice the method verifies that a user is authorized to use an application on a machine based on an application proof of purchase receipt and the authorization file. If the application proof of purchase receipt and the authorization file are both valid, the system checks if the user...

Apple is working on ways to easily capture digital signatures, per a patent (number 20120093409) at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are provided for capturing a signature, and placing a representation of the captured signature in an appropriate field of a document. A camera or other appropriate sensor can capture an image of a signature provided by a user on a piece of paper. The signature can be digitized to create a representation that a device may use in a displayed document.

To determine where to place the representation, a horizontal line of a document can be identified by selectively rendering portions of the document adjacent to an input position, and identifying one or more boundaries for a detected horizontal line. The representation can be scaled to fit in a detected field of the document.

Here's Apple's background on the invention: "Some electronic devices can be used to enter data in documents...

An Apple patent (number 20120092559) for rolling shutter distortion correction has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and apparently involves the camera in the iPad. It relates to correcting for a rolling shutter distortion in digital images; for example, a video clip composed of a sequence of digital images.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for performing rolling shutter distortion corrections are described. A video clip captured by a user is received and each of a plurality of predefined affine transforms for rolling shutter distortion correction is applied to the received video clip. Further, a visual indication of results from each of the plurality of the predefined affine transforms is presented to the user and input is received from the user selecting one of the visual indications.

Furthermore, the predefined affine transform corresponding to the selected visual indication is...

Apple hasn't made printers in years, but it's at least working on diagnostic targets for evaluating printer performance per a patent (number 20120092701) at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Per the patent, print performance is evaluated by printing a diagnostic image comprising color patches. Colorant usage in the printed image is measured by, for instance, scanning each patch. Measured color values are then compared to target color values. Based on the comparison, groups of patches whose color values vary significantly from expectations are identified.

Variant groups are then analyzed to identify, in addition to color quality control problems, spatial problems that affect only a localized area of a printed page. Such spatial problems may include, for example, problems with contrast or streaks. A heat map illustrating the differences may be generated to help an operator visualize the spatial problem. A template for the diagnostic image may be selected from a...

Interpret (http://www.interpretllc.com/), a cross media research firm, has released "Tablet Computers: Post-PC Wonderland or Utopia?," a report that examines whether Steve Jobs' "post-PC era" statement is a marketing ploy or a likely reality.

The report takes an in-depth look at how tablet owners differ from traditional computer owners, both demographically and behaviorally. For example, tablet owners watch nearly two fewer hours of traditional TV per week versus traditional computer owners. Not surprisingly, however, they engage in more digital behaviors, such as watching TV on the Internet, gaming and social networking.

"It's no secret that tablets are a hot technology, and the growth over the past year alone has been extraordinary," says Interpret CEO Michael Dowling. "However, tablet owners tend to be much more affluent than the average traditional computer owner, and the crossover...

Those of us hoping to see a Retina display Mac may have to wait until next year, at least for a desktop version -- unless Apple is ahead of the curve, which is always a possibility.

According to the "Liliputing" site (http://macte.ch/g0p2Z), by 2013 Intel sees handheld and tablet devices targeting resolutions in the range of 300 pixels per inch (ppi), while notebook computers target roughly 250 ppi and all-in-one desktop computers register around 220 ppi ini 2013. The company, per "Liliputing," sees this happening in the computer space over the next few years: 

° Tablets with 10 inch, 2560 x 1440 pixel displays 
° Ultrabooks with 11 inch, 2560 x 1440 pixel displays 
° Ultrabooks with 13 inch, 2800 x 1800 pixel displays 
° Laptops with 15 inch, 3840 x 2160 pixel displays 
° All-in-one desktops with 3840 x 2160 pixel displays

Retina display MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros would be great. But I'd also like...

ACI Research analyst Ed Zabitsky says (http://macte.ch/81NIa) you should sell Apple stock because it's destined to fall due to increased competition. I beg to differ.

I'm not sure Apple stock will hit the US$1,000 mark some pundits are predicting, but it's certainly heading well above $600. Zabitsky says Samsung is destined to be the smartphone leader, that smartphones/tablets/web usage are destined to become just another commodity, and that folks will turn away from Apple's "closed" systems.

Let's think this through. Computers (such as Macs) and portable music players (such as iPods) have all been commoditized for a long time. Still, Apple manages to make a huge amount of profit from them -- far more than the competition.

The smartphone (namely the iPhone) and the tablet (the iPad) won't be any different. Apple still provides the best experience for a great price on all these devices. (Thanks...

Apple has applied to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for a high-speed card connector having a wide power contact. The patent involves connectors to connect optional or daughter cards or boards to main or motherboards.

One example provides a connector that is capable of supporting high-speed data rates by employing contacts that provide short signal paths and a ground plane to improve signal quality. The space consumed in electronic devices may be reduced by providing a connector having a low profile, while another example may provide a connector having mechanical stability. Another example provides a connector having an increased manufacturability. Other examples include wider contacts for increased current capabilities.

Here's Apple's background on the invention: "he number and types of electronic devices on the market have grown tremendously the past few years. Tablet, netbook, laptop, and all-in-one computers, media players, handheld media players, cell...

An Apple patent (number 20120083208) for wireless accessory device pairing transfer between multiple hosts has appeared today at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Per the patent, a wireless communications system includes an accessory device and multiple host devices. A host device pairs wirelessly with an accessory device using a unique link key, detects a primary trigger event and responds by transferring automatically its pairing with the accessory device to a second host device while all devices remain within wireless range of each other.

The pairing transfer involves communicating the link key to the second host device, unpairing the accessory device from the first host device, and establishing a wireless pairing of the accessory device to the second host device. The primary trigger event can involve establishing a ported connection between host devices. A secondary trigger event results in the first host device automatically reclaiming its pairing with...

Apple is working on improving the flash in its iOS device cameras per a new patent (number 8,150,255) at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

According to the patent, a method performed by an electronic camera in flash mode is as follows. A scene ambient lighting indication is obtained. An integration time interval and a flash pulse-on time interval for taking a picture is then set. The set integration time interval is shorter when the indication is bright than when the indication is dark; and the set flash pulse-on time interval is longer when the indication is bright than when the indication is dark.

An image is captured using the set integration time interval and the set flash pulse-on time interval in accordance with an electronic rolling shutter (ERS). Other embodiments are also described and claimed. Richard Tsai is the inventor.

Apple has also been granted these patents:

° Number D656,501 for the flat panel iMac (the current...

Wireless home networks are now commonplace in many global markets, according to new research from Strategy Analytics (http://www.strategyanalytics.com). By the end of 2011, 439 million households worldwide had installed home Wi-Fi networks, equivalent to 25% of all households.

This report predicts that the total worldwide number of Wi-Fi households will reach nearly 800 million in 2016, a penetration rate of 42% Which shows that Apple still has plenty of opportunities to sell lots of Time Capsules, AirPort Extremes and AirPort Expresses.

South Korea, where broadband networks are almost ubiquitous, had the highest Wi-Fi household penetration in the world in 2011. On the other hand, even though China’s Wi-Fi network penetration stood at only 25% in 2011, it will become the main growth driver in the global Wi-Fi home market over the next five years, adding another 110 million Wi-Fi...

Future Apple products may arrive fully charged. A patent (number 20120081213) for active electronic media device packaging shows that the company is working on packaging for supplying power, data, or both power and data to an electronic media device while the device is housed within the active packaging.

Per the patent, the active packaging may include one or more electrical traces in-molded or printed onto the packaging that couple to a suitable connector on the device. Power may also be provided via one or more wireless power techniques. Multiple active packages may be conductively stacked to transmit power, data, or both power and data to a row or stack or devices. POM sensors integrated with or attached to the device (or the active packaging itself) may detect various movement events. Coordinated and synchronized display effects may be presented while the devices are housed within the active packaging.

Here's Apple's background on the invention: "This invention...

Based on a new Apple patent (20120081207), Apple is working on ways in which attaching a peripheral to an iOS device would launch a specific application.

In some embodiments, the mobile computing device can determine whether it is in a state that allows launching of an application and/or can determine whether the application or application type requested in the launch command is available for launching. In response to the request, and if the mobile computing device is capable, the mobile computing device can launch the application.
The mobile computing device can also send a positive acknowledgment message to the accessory indicating that the application may be launched.

An open communication session message may also be sent to the accessory. In response thereto the accessory can open a communication session and interoperate with the application. The inventors are Shyam Toprani, Paul Holden, Emily Clark Schubert, Thomas Alsina and Scott Forstall.

In a...

The Mac gets some of the least publicity of all of Apple's products. Some even predict the demise of Apple's computer line is on the horizon.

Don't bet on it. Macs will evolve -- adding more iOS-like features and probably more integration with iOS devices to spur sales -- but there's LOTS of room for Mac growth. Eric Jackson writing for "Forbes" (http://macte.ch/cDzpG) correctly points out that the Mac is the most ignored part of the Apple portfolio.

He notes that the computer line has consistently grown faster than the PC industry.  Macs grew their revenues 26% year-over-year in the last quarter and 22% for the last fiscal year. In fact, Jackson points out that the Macs’ growth rate is actually increasing over time, as "the Apple halo effect is truly starting to take hold."

What's more, the much-publicized death of the personal computer isn't going to happen. The personal computer industry grew...

Apple has been granted three patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office regarding the cameras and microphones in their iOS devices.

Patent number 815255 involves a flash control for an electronic rolling shutter. A method performed by an electronic camera in flash mode is as follows: a scene ambient lighting indication is obtained. An integration time interval and a flash pulse-on time interval for taking a picture is then set. The set integration time interval is shorter when the indication is bright than when the indication is dark; and the set flash pulse-on time interval is longer when the indication is bright than when the indication is dark.

An image is captured using the set integration time interval and the set flash pulse-on time interval in accordance with an electronic rolling shutter (ERS). Other embodiments are also described and claimed. Richard Tsai is the inventor.

Patent number 8150058 involves mode...

By Rick Sutcliffe

There are 10 kinds of people in the world -- those who understand binary, and those who do not; programmers and users, the differentiators and the integrators; those who put people into categories and those who do not (which are you?) n-- and that's as far as the Spy's April Fools' Day will go this year.

More important, there are the self-absorbed and the empathetic, the honourable and the dishonourable, the wise and the fools, the noble and the ignoble, the theoretical and the practical, the secure and the insecure, the saints and the sinners, the technophiles and the technophobes, the just and the unjust, the repentant and the defiantly self-righteous, the builders and the destroyers -- one may categorize the the whole sweep of the human race (the only race of humans, BTW) in a series of such bifurcations. All of us are from time to time in one or the other of such polar opposites, or perhaps both at the same time. Such is the...

The iPhone 4S boasts a Retina display, as does the new iPad. Perhaps the Mac is next in line for such technology.

"Ars Technica" (http://macte.ch/TQTWE) says a new clue found within in the latest developer release of OS X 10.8 ("Mountain Lion") suggests that 2012 may bring us the "summer of retina display Macs." A source with access to the latest Mountain Lion preview alerted "Ars" that double-sized graphics have popped up in some unexpected places, once again suggesting that Apple may be close to releasing laptops with high pixel-density screens.

Retina display MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros would be great. But I'd also like to see a Retina display iMac. Imagine a 27-inch iMac (my Mac model of choice) with 3840 x 2160 resolution. The current high-end model "only" has 2560 x 1440 resolution. Such a display requires quite a bit of processing power. But a top-of-the-line iMac with Ivy Bridge processors...

Two new patents at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office show that Apple is eyeing ways to enhance a 3D-like experience on its iOS and OS X devices.

Patents 20120079378 and 20120079377 are for systems, methods, and computer-readable media for integrating a three-dimensional asset with a three-dimensional model. Each asset can include a base surface and either a protrusion or a projection extending from the base.

Once the asset is placed at a particular position with respect to the model, one or more vertices defining a periphery of the base surface can be projected onto an external surface of the model. Then, one or more portions of the asset can be deformed to provide a smooth transition between the external surface of the asset and the external surface of the model.

In some cases, the asset can include a hole extending through the external surface of the model for defining a cavity. A secondary asset can be placed in the cavity such as, for example, an...

Over 50% of U.S. users of Apple iPhone 4S are "very satisfied" with the Siri voice-command feature, according to new consumer research from Parks Associates (http://www.parksassociates.com). What's more, 37% percent of iPhone 4S owners also want to have a similar voice-command interface for their TV set, though about 20% wouldn't, notes the research group.

Consumers like Siri because it's convenient, easy to use, and helpful for remembering important information (e.g., birthdays) and its hands-free capability makes it easy to send texts, emails, and phone calls, according oto John Barrett, director, Consumer Analytics, Parks Associates. He says that Apple could soon be launching a TV set with a Siri voice interface.  The popularity and usability of the company's natural-language user interface could determine the extent of Apple's impact on the TV market.

"People are expressing some...