Archive for February 20th, 2007

Transparent compatibility and adaptation to differing format implementations in a computer system

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

Title:  Transparent compatibility and adaptation to differing format implementations in a computer system

Type:  issued patent

Patent number:  7,180,526

Issue date:  February 20, 2007

Filing date:  April 1, 2004 (priority to May 10, 1996)

Link to PDF:    (7 pages)

AIPW Summary:  A method for communicating between an application program and a display device. The application generates output in a first format to a first frame buffer, and the display generates its output based on the contents of a second frame buffer (with data in a second format). This invention translates (transforms) data from the first format to the second format, thereby making the application output display format independent of the display device format. So application output formats can change or display formats can change without requiring a change in the other.

Posted in Issued Apple patents, Miscellaneous Apple-related software patents | No Comments »

Portable iPod dock connector with lanyard

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

Title:  Device harness

Type:  design patent

Patent number:  D537,074

Issue date:  February 20, 2007

Filing date:  March 28, 2006 (priority to August 26, 2004)

Link to PDF: (5 pages)

AIPW Summary: A design for a portable iPod dock connector with a lanyard (cord) threaded through the bottom of the connector. It looks more like a lanyard for an iPod Nano, but not the Lanyard Headphones.

Related case:  D527,723    (4 pages) – This design patent covers only the dock connector portion, without the lanyard.

Posted in Apple design patents, iPod-related hardware patents | No Comments »

Auto stacking of time related images

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

Title:  Auto stacking of time related images

Patent application publication number:  20070035551

Publication date:  February 15, 2007

Filing date:  June 15, 2005 (priority to October 6, 2004)

Link to PDF:    (16 pages)

AIPW Summary:  Groups of digital images are arranged into stacks for display purposes. This is particularly useful when going through large numbers of digital photos. When stacked (referred to as a contracted state), one representative image is shown on top of the stack, and all of the images are displayed in a second (expanded) state. Each image in the stack has a rank value, with the highest ranked image on top, and images may be promoted or demoted through the stack. A stack can be generated manually or automatically based on attributes selected by the user.

Posted in Non-iPod video-related patents, Published Apple patent applications | No Comments »

Docking a portable electronic device with a planar-like configuration that operates in multiple orientations

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

Title:  Methods and apparatuses for docking a portable electronic device that has a planar like configuration and that operates in multiple orientations

Patent application publication number:  20070035917

Publication date:  February 15, 2007

Filing date:  August 9, 2005

Link to PDF:    (25 pages)

AIPW Summary:  A docking system for a portable electronic device that can be docked in multiple orientations (i.e., vertical and horizontal). The dock and the device each have an interfacing system, and the two interfacing systems can communicate to exchange data and to power the device. The interfacing system can include contact platforms (with a variety of physical connectors), non-contact platforms (via induction), or a combination of the two. As long as the interfacing systems of the dock and the device are “operatively coupled” with each other, the physical orientation of the device relative to the dock does not matter (paragraph 0056).

Posted in iPhone-related patents, iPod-related hardware patents, Miscellaneous Apple hardware-related patents, Published Apple patent applications | No Comments »