According to a new Apple patent (number 20120235510) at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, Apple wants to shake things up on its iOS devices. Literally.

The patent, for harnessing power through electronic induction utilizing printed coils, would let you shake an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad to re-charge 'em. Per the patent, a system can include one or more moveable magnets adjacent to printed coils on a circuit. For example, a system can include one or more magnets that are operative to move alongside a circuit board that includes printed coils.

The one or more magnets may move, for example, when a user shakes the system or when the user walks or runs while holding the device. The movement of the one or more magnets may create an electromotive force (e.g., a voltage) across the printed coils, and this force may be used to generate electric power.

Here's Apple's background on the invention: "Traditional systems for harnessing power through electromagnetic...

Apple has been granted a patent (number 8269677) by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for a dual-band cavity backed antenna for an integrated desktop computer -- in other words, the iMac.

Per the patent, an electronic device may have a housing with conductive housing walls. A dielectric antenna window may be formed in an opening in one of the conductive housing walls. A dielectric logo may form the dielectric antenna window. A dielectric support structure may have an outline that matches the dielectric logo. An antenna resonating element for an antenna may be formed on the dielectric support structure.

An antenna cavity for the antenna may be formed by a conductive cavity structure. A pattern of voids in the dielectric support structure may reduce dielectric loading for the antenna. The conductive cavity structure may be formed from solderable plated metal. The conductive cavity structure may have a planar lip that is attached to the conductive housing walls...

By Greg Mills

Americans are being killed in distant places around the world, in effect, due to policies Google reckons to be protective of freedom of expression on the web. In theory, a strict policy of letting content stand makes sense and protects us from highhanded authoritative governments. There are limits to any theory, which, when taken to an extreme, begin to fade in the light of day.

Such light ought to be dawning in Mountain View, about now. Years of work by our State Department to appear even-handed in the Arab sphere of influence is being swiftly undone by access to a fourth rate movie about Mohammad, content that Google insists needs to stay posted on the web. This to satisfy the web's "freedom of the wild west" mentality that also screams of anarchy.  Anarchy might be the opposite of repressiveness, but at the end of the day, is it any better? To much law or too little law. See http://www.debka.com/article/22358/Post-Arab-Spring-%...

Author Michael Levin says he can see the writing on the iPad.

"Unless something changes, books as we know them are doomed, and not simply because people prefer to read on their iPads or Kindles" says Levin, (www.BusinessGhost.com), a "New York Times" best-selling author, as well as editor, publisher, co-writer and ghostwriter. "You’ll see the major publishing houses starting to go away in three to five years. Their business model is in free fall. Already, we’re seeing books becoming shorter, cheaper, and diminishing in quality. You’ll soon see fewer really good authors bothering to write books, because books are no longer a meaningful source of revenue."

Levin points to several developments he says foreshadow a sad ending for books:

° Attention spans are diminishing. Three-fourths of teachers said their students’ attention spans are shorter than ever, according to a poll released in June....

By Hathem Brand

It's mid-September, and for techheads that can only mean one thing: The iPhone 5 is now up for grabs on store shelves. In retrospect, have the cynics (and conversely, the promoters) been proven right? Did the iPhone 5 really deserve the waves of hype it made on the tech front?

Let's go over some of the most prominent promises made and kept.

The A6 chip

Before the release, reports of the iPhone5 incorporating the much hyped quad-core A6 chip were rampant. This, however, seemed to have been fueled by camps from both sides of the fence.

If you'll remember, the excitement over the previously released A5X chip had been quickly silenced by cries of supposed foul play, mainly directed at the chip not turning out to be truly quad-core. While more a marketing "snafu" than anything else (the chip only had a dual-core CPU, although its GPU was quad-core), it nevertheless incensed a lot of consumers who...

An Apple patent (number 20120233569) for managing user interface control panels on the Mac has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Per the patent, a computer-implemented method includes displaying a user interface on a display device, the user interface displaying a content item, in response to receiving input, displaying a user interface control panel including a user interface control, the user interface control configured to enable modifying one or more attributes of the content item, and in response to detecting a first selection of the user interface control, displaying a portion of the user interface control panel and hiding a portion of the user interface control panel, the displayed portion of the user interface control panel including the user interface control.

Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "Software applications can edit content items such as images, video, audio, documents, and the like. Content items, such as...

Yesterday's Apple media event held no major surprises. The iPhone 5, a new iTunes, a new iPod touch and a new iPod nano were revealed -- as everyone expected. There was no iPad mini, 13-inch Retina display MacBook Pro or updated iMac announcements. But they're coming.

With that in mind, here are some random thoughts that occurred to me during the media event:

° No "one more thing." Apple CEO Tim Cook didn't try to emulate Steve Jobs' famous routine of saving the biggest news of all for the end of the event, a la a "one more thing" announcement. In fact, Cook and the gang did the opposite. They started with the biggest news (the iPhone 5) and saved the least earth-shaking news (new iPods) for last. That's less dramatic, but Cook is smart enough not to copy Jobs' act.

° Naming schemes. Okay, the newest iPad is the "new iPad," the newest version of iTunes is the "new iTunes" the latest iPod touch is the "new iPod touch," the reinvented iPod nano is the "new iPad...

Today at 10 am (Pacific) Apple will hold a special media event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. The invite sent to the media says simply that, "It's almost here." Here's what I see being announced:

The next gen iPhone, of course, is a no-brainer. The only shock will be if Apple doesn't announce a new version of its smartphone. I've long doubted that it would be dubbed the "iPhone 5," but now it seems obvious that it will be. Why? Look carefully at the graphic from the media invitation ...

The iPhone 5 will sport a slimmer form factor wrapped around a 4-inch Retina display; that's up from the iPhone 4S’s current 3.5-inch offering. It will pack iOS 6, a quad-core A6 processor and a 9-pin dock connector that -- for better or worse -- replaces the current 30-pin standard. I also expect the iPhone 5 to support compatibility with LTE networks in the U.S., Europe and Asia. I'm not anticipating it, but I'd love to see an iPhone with...

Apple has won a patent (number 8264820) for a handheld computing device and handheld music player. It's for the iPod nano.

The handheld computing device includes a seamless enclosure formed from an extruded tube. The extruded tube includes open ends and internal rails which serve as a guide for slidably assembling an operational assembly through the open ends of the extruded tube, a reference surface for positioning the operational assembly relative to an access opening in the seamless enclosure, and a support structure for supporting the operational assembly during use. The handheld music player includes an elongated extruded tube extending along a longitudinal axis.

The elongated extruded tube has a first open end and a second open end opposite the first open end, and defines an internal lumen which is sized and dimensioned for slidable receipt of operational components of the handheld music player. The lumen includes rails for guiding the operational components to...

Apple has been granted a patent (number 8264310) for its Smart Cover for the iPad. The patent is for an accessory device for peek mode.

A magnetic attachment mechanism and method is described. The magnetic attachment mechanism can be used to releasably attach at least two objects together in a preferred configuration without fasteners and without external intervention. The magnetic attachment mechanism can be used to releasably attach an accessory device to an electronic device. The accessory device can be used to augment the functionality of usefulness of the electronic device.

The inventors are Andrew Lauder, Matthew D. Rohrbach, Daniel J. Coster, Christopher Stringer, Florence W. Ow, Jiang Ai, Jonathan P. Ive, Elvis M. Kibiti, John P. Ternus and Sean D. Lubner.

Apple has also been granted:

° Patent number 8265017 for methods and an apparatus for network capacity enhancement for wireless device coexistence.

° Patent...

Global connected automotive infotainment system shipments are expected to grow from 5.7 million in 2012 to 50.9 million in 2017, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com). While the US is currently the leading market, it will be overtaken by both Europe and Asia-Pacific by 2017, says the research group. This could be good news for Apple and its Siri technology.

"Infotainment remains a strong driver for the connected car market with both connected navigation and multimedia streaming about to become standard features, especially in the US market," says ABI Vice President and Practice Director Dominique Bonte. "In Europe the TomTom-powered embedded Renault Carminat Live solution has seen stellar success.”

However, convergence is clearly the biggest dynamic in this nascent market with OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] such as Honda recently launching solutions based on smartphone integration...

An Apple patent (number 20120226774) for "display snooping" has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. It's designed to provide displays that may be used as secondary display devices.

Per the patent, circuitry may be placed in a communication pathway between a host computer and a second display device external to the host computer. One example provides an interface circuit that receives communication signals from a host computer. These signals may be AUX signals sent over a DisplayPort or Thunderbolt connection. The interface circuit may pass these signals to the second display device directly, it may modify them before passing them on, it may ignore them, or the interface circuit may pass them to a processor associated with the second display device.

Here's Apple's background on the invention: "Computing environments continue to evolve. One of the latest evolutionary steps is the use of more than one display screen to view data generated by a computer...

Apple has filed a patent (number 20120225677) with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for synchronizing mobile and vehicle devices -- especially in regard to mapping features.

Per the patent, location information is received at a mobile device from the memory of a vehicle device. The mobile device is updated based on the location information. Sensor data is received from at least one sensor measuring movement of the mobile device, and an estimated location of the mobile device is calculated based at least in part on the location information and the sensor data.

Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "The role of traditional printed maps is being supplanted by modern devices capable of rendering dynamic map displays. Devices that include mapping or navigation applications provide information regarding an area selected by a user by recalling map data from local memory or networked services.

"Mapping devices include appropriately configured...

An Apple patent (number 20120227006) for a configurable input device has popped up at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. It shows that Apple is working on methods and systems related to having an input device configured according to a position of a user's hand relative to the input device.

In particular, in some embodiments, a method of operating a computing system is provided that includes determining an operational context of the computing system utilizing a processor of the system and configuring an input device for the system based on the operational context. The input device includes a plurality of discrete input members.

The method also includes displaying a virtual image representative of the input device on a display of the system. A position of a user's digits relative to the input device is sensed and the input device is reconfigured based on the sensed position of the user's digits. An image of the user's digits overlaying the virtual image...

Apple has been granted a patent (number 20120222985) for a composite enclosure; the invention involves the build of the iPhone.

Per the patent, a composite enclosure for housing electronic devices, and methods related thereto, are provided. In particular, in some embodiments, a method of manufacturing a composite enclosure for housing electronic devices includes winding composite material about a mandrel and curing the composite material to create a composite hoop.

A panel is formed in a separate process that includes stacking a plurality of composite layers in a mold and curing the composite layers to create a composite panel. The composite hoop and the composite panel are bonded together to form the composite enclosure.

Here's Apple's background on the invention: "A typical mobile phone enclosure consists of a back panel, four side walls, and a glass front panel. Generally, the enclosure may be made of molded plastic, metal or other materials. Composite...

Apple has filed a patent (number 8,259,017) for a hybrid antenna for electronic devices.

Per the patent, the hybrid antenna may include a slot antenna structure and a planar inverted-F antenna structure. The planar inverted-F antenna structure may be formed from traces on a flex circuit substrate. A backside trace may form a series capacitance for the planar inverted-F antenna structure.

The antenna slot may have a perimeter that is defined by the location of conductive structures such as flex circuits, metal housing structures, a conductive bezel, printed circuit board ground conductors, and electrical components. Springs may be used in electrically connecting these conductive elements. A spring-loaded pin may be used as part of an antenna feed conductor. The pin may connect a transmission line path on a printed circuit board to the planar inverted-F antenna structure while allowing the planar inverted-F antenna structure to be removed from the device for rework or...

By Rick Sutcliffe

Last Month the Spy recounted his adventures with changing his Linux server to a bigger, badder machine running a much more recent OS. This month, he bit yet another migration bullet, moving into a new laptop.

Why an issue? Software. The longtime reader may recall the iconoclast Spy has continued to use good old reliable Eudora for his mail client, lo these many years. Well, he cannot do that even with Lion, much less Mountain Lion. BTW, the new machine is a 15-inch Retina PowerBook Pro tricked out with 16G of RAM and a 500G SSD.

Retinal impressions are somewhat mixed. The Spy has been using a 17-inch, mid-2007 vintage MacBook Pro, and going down a size causes a noticeable reduction in screen real estate -- though when in desktop mode hooked up to a larger monitor this is scarcely an issue. The new screen is sharper and more readable. with the glossy finish not so much a problem as it was in past years....

The use of iPhones and iPads in the the workplace has seen a steady rise. That looks to continue, especially with regards to the Apple tablet.

S&P Capital IQ -- a provider of multi-asset class data, research and analytics -- recently released the results of a new survey detailing industry professionals' preference, use and likely future purchase intentions of financial apps and delivery systems.

Responses to the survey -- with more than 400 respondents from S&P Capital IQ's investment banking clients -- underscore the growing relevance of mobile devices in the workplace and how smartphones, tablets and investor-directed apps have become an integral part of users' personal and professional lives. Among the results the S&P Capital IQ survey uncovered are: 

° BlackBerrys still matter, but iPhones play a significant role as a dual-use device: Devices used for work vary as 39% of respondents use a BlackBerry and 36% use an iPhone for business matters;...

An Apple patent (number 8257075) for a carbon composite mold design has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. IT shows that the company is at least considering carbon fiber housings for its laptop line.

The patent involves a mold assembly or system includes a moldbase that holds mold inserts and has embedded fluid lines to facilitate cooling during part formation. Mold inserts combine to form mold cavities that receive carbon fiber and resin components to form a carbon composite based part.

A permanent release coating along a mold component surface that contacts the carbon fiber and resin components facilitates the release of the finished part from the mold component. Guide pins and guide pin receiving holes facilitate accurate alignment of mold components.

Ejector pins within respective ejector pin shafts help eject a finished part from a respective mold component. An ejector pin shaft cover transfers force from an ejector pin to eject a...

An Apple patent (number 20120218239) for backlight control of an electronic device has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Embodiments are provided in the patent that may be utilized to eliminate stray light emissions from an LED while ambient light is being sensed. As such, dynamic backlight control systems for use with an electronic display are presented including: an ambient light sensor for sensing ambient light intensity; a backlight for illuminating the electronic display; a switch for controlling the backlight, the switch configured to set a backlight condition to ON or OFF in response to a backlight-off frequency such that the ambient light sensor senses the ambient light intensity in the absence of the backlight; a logic module for determining a backlight level in response to the ambient light intensity; and a backlight control circuit for adjusting the backlight to the backlight level in response to the ambient light intensity.

Here's Apple'...

Only 11% of customers who purchase a high definition television do so because of its 3D capabilities, according to the J.D. Power and Associates' "2012 High Definition Television (HDTV) Report." I'm not surprised as people don't like wearing those wonky 3D glasses at home. Who knows? Perhaps Apple can change this.

The J.D. Power report examines satisfaction with HDTVs among customers who purchased one in the past 12 months. The report measures HDTV satisfaction across six factors (listed in order of importance): performance and reliability; ease of operating; competitiveness of the price paid; styling and appearance; variety of features; and warranty.

The report finds that 75% of customers indicate price was a reason they purchased their HDTV, followed by brand reputation (60%); positive reviews (37%); past experience with the brand (36%); quality of construction (33%); availability (31%); styling of the TV (29%); ease of use (21%); and 3D capability (11%).

"...

A U.S. District Court Judge has granted Consumer Watchdog (www.ConsumerWatchdog.org ) the right to oppose Google's record US$22.5 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission because it allows the Internet giant to deny any wrongdoing.

"Google executives want to buy their way out of trouble with what for them is pocket change and then deny doing anything wrong," says John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog's Privacy Project director. "Allowing this settlement undercuts the entire regulatory process. Companies and their executives must be held accountable when they violate legal agreements."

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston gave attorneys for the nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group until Sept. 21 to file an amicus, or friend of the court, brief opposing the settlement. In her order filed late Tuesday she said Google and the FTC would then have a week to respond. The judge...

Apple has been granted a patent (number 8255323) for motion-based payment confirmation by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Methods and devices for confirming payment transactions are provided, such as those used at Apple retail stores.

In one embodiment, an electronic device may include a graphical user interface (GUI) with one or more graphical elements that may be moved by a user to confirm or decline a payment transaction using a selected payment instrument. For example, a user may drag the graphical element to a confirmation position via a touch screen of the electronic device. In another example, a motion sensing device, such as an accelerometer, may sense movement of the electronic device and move the graphical element in response to the motion.

Upon confirmation, payment information for the payment transaction may be transmitted to a merchant or payment recipient. Various additional methods, machine-readable media, and devices for confirming payment...

Consumers increasingly want to bring content from their mobile devices to the big screen TV. No company has made this easier than Apple with its AirPlay technology, but competitors are coming.

Wi-Fi Direct supports peer-to-peer connections between Wi-Fi devices, while Miracast (Wi-Fi Display) supports display of video content from tablets, smartphones, and other devices to the TV. By 2014 over 66% of connected CE devices (non-mobile/computing devices) are expected to support Wi-Fi Direct, with the majority of those devices Miracast certified as well, according to ABI Research (www.abirearch.com). Miracast will facilitate developers bringing small screen content to the TV, according to the research group. Miracast certification is expected to come within the next few months, with Wi-Fi "services" coming in 2013 -- services that will enable new functions, such as printing or gaming.

"Part of Apple’s...