Suppose you could change the channel on your TV by moving a sofa cushion? Or adjust the volume with a plate of nachos? That’s the simple but somewhat ridiculous idea behind a patent Apple applied for.
While silly, it would mean we’d never need to worry about losing the TV remote.
What if, instead of saying “Hey Siri” to activate your HomePod, you only had to glance at it? Apple is considering this possibility, and recently filed for a patent on it.
Whether this will become part of a future Apple smart speaker depends on whether it’s actually better than the current activation system.
A newly published patent filing shows Apple is exploring the possibility of building support for the Find My device locating system into a future version of the Apple Pencil. At the very least, the stylus might be able to play an alert sound to make it more findable.
Other products from the company already have this feature.
April 13, 2005: The tech world gets excited when a sketchy rumor suggests Apple is building a tablet computer.
The Chinese-language report claims Quanta will build a 15-inch touchscreen tablet PC with detachable keyboard. Apple will supposedly ship the device in the first quarter of 2006. Things don’t turn out quite like that, but the rumor offers the first hint about Apple’s secret iPad project.
A decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission to block Apple Watch imports reportedly received a go-ahead from the Biden administration.
That would be a devastating decision, except that the ITC’s ruling is based on Apple Watch violating patents owned by AliveCor, and the U.S. Patent Office has ruled those are invalid. AliveCor is appealing, though.
Imagine getting a text from a friend and your iPhone reads it to you in your friend’s voice. Rather than a recording, their speech would be simulated from a voice model.
That’s the goal of a patent Apple submitted recently.
Someday, you might be able to pull a color out of the real world just by touching your Apple Pencil to it. Apple patented a version of its iPad stylus with color sensors in the tip.
The device would be a real boon to artists who paint on an iPad.
Apple is showing interest in making a clip-on iPhone or iPad game controller. It filed a patent application for various permutations of exactly that sort of accessory on Thursday.
This would be a new product category for the company. But it could be a boon for Apple Arcade subscribers.
Apple filed a patent application for a desktop computer that’s also a keyboard. If that seems familiar, it’s the design used by some of the first personal computers back in the 1900s.
Because even old ideas can still have merit.
The rumored Apple Car may not be on the verge of rolling off the assembly line, but someday a version of it may have sunroof glass that you can darken or lighten with the touch of a button or with a Siri command.
That’s according to a patent the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted Apple this week for a sunroof with variable-opacity glass. That means a driver could adjust its transparency.
