U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially Apple Inc. For 34 published a series of newly formed patents. In this special report we highlight patents to cover a reminder system for future leading tracking user interfaces, iDevice indoor location services and drivers and exit from their vehicle. Apple was also provided a patent design for Apple Watch Retail Packaging.
Patent no. – US9717065
Apple newly granted patent cover their invention to, In some implementations, wireless transceivers (“nodes”) can be located throughout a building. In some implementations, an originating mobile device can request the current location of a target mobile device. In some implementation, if a direct connection cannot be established between the originating mobile device and the target mobile device, the originating mobile device can send the location request to one or more nodes in the building. The nodes can relay the location request to the target mobile device. The target mobile device can determine the target mobile device’s current location and send the current location of the target mobile device back to the originating mobile device through the nodes.
Patent no. – US9715273
A method to transition focus of a display corresponding to an object’s motion tracked by a video camera or like device is disclosed. In one implementation, the display shows one or more windows or user interfaces on the display. The object’s motion can be used to select one of the windows or user interfaces on the display and manipulate content presented in the window or user interface. In other implementations, the object’s motion can manipulate a three-dimensional graphical icon in a three-dimensional display environment, for example, by rotating it. In another implementation, the method further tracks motion of a second object and shifts focus of the display corresponding to the motion of the second object. In another implementation, a second display may be added to mirror the focus transition corresponding to the object’s motion.
Patent no. – US9715816
Systems and methods for providing a reminder to a mobile device are provided. After receiving a request to establish a reminder from a user, a plurality of reminder options is provided. Each reminder option corresponds to a different category of reminders, and a first reminder option of the reminder options corresponds to a connection state of the mobile device with a processor of a vehicle. A selection of the first reminder option for the remainder is received. An indication of a transition that is to trigger the reminder is also received. The transition corresponds to the mobile device establishing a wireless connection to a processor of the vehicle or the mobile device disconnecting from the vehicle processor. Content for the remainder is received. In response to detecting the transition between the mobile device and the processor of the vehicle, the content of the reminder is provided to the user.
Patent no. – US9717109
To establish a connection between electronic devices some embodiments include a system, method, and/or computer program product for password pairing user-interface devices in wireless proximity. A first electronic device (e.g., a keyboard) transmits an advertising packet, and receives a password, where the password has been generated by a second electronic device (e.g., a Smartphone) and the password enables pairing between the first electronic device and the second electronic device. The first electronic device transmits a message including the password to the second electronic device, where the second electronic device is within a predefined range of the first electronic device. In some embodiments the first device receives a command from the second electronic device to transition to a discovery mode, transitions to the discovery mode, and transmits a confirmation to the second electronic device that the first device is in the discovery mode.
Patent no.-US9716986
Message notifications to an accessory from a mobile communication device are provided according to some embodiments of the invention. When a message such as a text message, email, and/or voicemail is received at a mobile communication device, the mobile communication device can notify an attached accessory that a message has been received. In response, the accessory can request the full message, media associated with the message, an attachment to the message, and/or an audio/video stream of the message for presentation to a user.
Patent no. – US9716937
This application relates to earbuds configured with one or more biometric sensors. At least one of the biometric sensors is configured to be pressed up against a portion of the tragus for making biometric measurements. In some embodiments, the housing of the earbud can be symmetric so that the earbud can be worn interchangeably in either a left or a right ear of a user. In such an embodiment, the earbud can include a sensor and circuitry configured to determine and alter operation of the earbud in accordance to which ear the earbud is determined to be sitting.
Patent no.-US9716934
An acoustic device such as a microphone or speaker is positioned with and coupled to a housing to connect an acoustic port of the acoustic device with an external opening of the housing. A reservoir is connected to the external opening via a bleed channel. The bleed channel may be less resistive to liquid ingress than the acoustic port. As such, the reservoir and bleed channel may redirect liquid from the external opening away from the acoustic port. In some implementations, the reservoir and/or the bleed channel may be defined by one or more acoustically permeable barriers such as meshes that cover the acoustic port, compressible materials such as foams that form a perimeter around the acoustic port, and/or adhesive layers that couple the acoustic device, the housing, and/or one or more other components.
Patent no.-US9716871
An encoder may include a luma transform, a transformer, and a chroma transform. The luma transform may determine a linear luminance value based upon a plurality of primary color values of a pixel. The transformer may generate a transformed luminance value based upon the linear luminance value and a plurality of transformed color values based upon corresponding more than one of the primary color values of the pixel. The chroma transform may determine a plurality of chroma values based upon corresponding plurality of transformed color values and the transformed luminance value of the pixel.
Patent no. – US9716825
The present disclosure generally relates to user interfaces. In some examples, the electronic device transitions between user interfaces for capturing photos based on data received from a first camera and a second camera. In some examples, the electronic device provides enhanced zooming capabilities that result in visual pleasing results for a displayed digital viewfinder and for captured videos. In some examples, the electronic device provides user interfaces for transitioning a digital viewfinder between a first camera with an applied digital zoom to a second camera with no digital zoom. In some examples, the electronic device prepares to capture media at various magnification levels. In some examples, the electronic device enhanced capabilities for navigating through a plurality of values.
Patent no. – US9716815
An electronic device can include a camera and a cover glass arrangement disposed over the camera. The cover glass arrangement includes a thinner region or cover glass that is positioned over a light-receiving region of the camera. Additionally, the thinner region or cover glass can be disposed over the light-receiving region and at least parts of one or more non-light receiving regions of the camera.
Patent no.-US9716774
A system, method, and computer-readable medium for method for syncing a user interface on a server device to a user interface on a client device are disclosed. The method includes broadcasting a signal from a server device to a client device when the server device presents an active user input interface on a display screen, wherein the active user input interface illustrates input from a user via a remote control that is separate from the client device, wherein the remote control requires multiple steps for inputting a character. The method next includes establishing a connection between the server device and the client device if certain pre-defined criteria are met. Next the method includes transmitting parameters for displaying a client user input interface on the connected client device that is associated with the active user input interface, including loading existing data in an input field of the active user input interface into a client input field on the client device. The method then includes receiving character input sent from the connected client device to the server device via the client user input interface, wherein the character is received via a single step. The method then includes updating the input field of the active user input interface with the received character input from the client user input interface, and removing the client user input interface on the client device upon the occurrence of an event.
Patent no.-US9716698
A method and system for securely enrolling personal identity credentials into personal identification devices. The system of the invention comprises the manufacturer of the device and an enrollment authority. The manufacturer is responsible for recording serial numbers or another unique identifier for each device that it produces, along with a self-generated public key for each device. The enrollment authority is recognized by the manufacturer or another suitable institution as capable of validating an individual before enrolling him into the device. The enrollment authority maintains and operates the appropriate equipment for enrollment, and provides its approval of the enrollment. The methods described herein discuss post-manufacturing, enrollment, backup, and recovery processes for the device.
Patent no-US9716586
Methods, media, and systems for, in one embodiment, protecting one or more keys in an encryption and/or decryption process can use precomputed values in the process such that at least a portion of the one or more keys is not used or exposed in the process. In one example of a method, internal states of an AES encryption process are saved for use in a counter mode stream cipher operation in which the key used in the AES encryption process is not exposed or used.
Patent no.-US9716265
The disclosed embodiments relate to the manufacture of a precursor co-precipitate material for a cathode active material composition. During manufacture of the precursor co-precipitate material, an aqueous solution containing at least one of a manganese sulfate and a cobalt sulfate is formed. Next, an NH.sub.4OH solution is added to the aqueous solution to form a particulate solution comprising irregular secondary particles of the precursor co-precipitate material. A constant pH in the range of 10-12 is also maintained in the particulate solution by adding a basic solution to the particulate solution.
Patent no.-US9716248
A display having thin-film transistor (TFT) structures may be used to display images within an active area of the display, which is surrounded by an inactive border area. In order to reduce the inactive area, a TFT passivation layer may be used to help protect conductive routing lines at the outer edge of the border so that encapsulation layers need not be formed all the way to the edge. At least some of the conductive routing lines in the inactive area may be stacked or coupled in parallel to help reduce border width. The TFT passivation layer may also cover the lateral edges of the routing lines to help prevent corrosion during an anode etch. The encapsulation layers may also be formed in a bent portion of the display substrate to help adjust the neutral stress plane such that metal traces formed in the bent portion do not crack.
Patent no.US9715978
A key of a keyboard and a low travel dome switch utilized in the key. The key may comprise a key cap, and a low travel dome positioned beneath the key cap, and operative to collapse when a force is exerted on the low travel dome by the key cap. The low travel dome may comprise a top portion, and a group of arms extending from the top portion to a perimeter of the low travel dome and at least partially defining a tuning member located between two of the group of arms. The low travel dome may also comprise a group of elongated protrusions. Each of the group of elongated protrusions may extend from one of the top portion, or one of the group of arms. At least one of the groups of elongated protrusions may extend into the tuning member.
Patent no.-US9715964
This disclosure describes methods and systems for minimizing electromagnetic interference (EMI) noise emanating from a ceramic capacitor. The ceramic capacitor may include several terminations are on a bottom portion of the capacitor. The capacitor may be designed to include several capacitors formed from electrode layers. The capacitor may include a conductive coating on an outer peripheral portion. The coating may include conductive materials such as Cu, Ni, Ag, and/or graphite. Alternatively, some regions of the capacitor may include electrode layers built into the capacitor that are not associated with capacitors. In this manner, the ceramic capacitor may be free of the conductive coating to locations proximate to the described electrode layers not associated with capacitors. The conductive coating can act as an electromagnetic shielding to prevent the EMI noise from emanating outside the electromagnetic shielding. Also, the conductive coating can be electrically grounded (e.g., to printed circuit board) via terminals.
Patent no.-US9715875
Systems and processes for selectively processing and responding to a spoken user input are provided. In one example, audio input containing a spoken user input can be received at a user device. The spoken user input can be identified from the audio input by identifying start and end-points of the spoken user input. It can be determined whether or not the spoken user input was intended for a virtual assistant based on contextual information. The determination can be made using a rule-based system or a probabilistic system. If it is determined that the spoken user input was intended for the virtual assistant, the spoken user input can be processed and an appropriate response can be generated. If it is instead determined that the spoken user input was not intended for the virtual assistant, the spoken user input can be ignored and/or no response can be generated.
Patent no.-US9716815
An electronic device can include a camera and a cover glass arrangement disposed over the camera. The cover glass arrangement includes a thinner region or cover glass that is positioned over a light-receiving region of the camera. Additionally, the thinner region or cover glass can be disposed over the light-receiving region and at least parts of one or more non-light receiving regions of the camera.
Patent no.-US9715751
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, are described for zooming into a portion of an image that is associated with a specified feature, for example, a portion of an image that depicts a human or an animal face. In one aspect, the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods that include the actions of receiving user input requesting to zoom to faces depicted in one or more digital images, where the faces include either human faces or animal faces. Additionally, in response to said receiving the user input and for each of the one or more digital images, the methods include the actions of presenting a zoomed view of the digital image that shows an instance of a face depicted in the digital image, such that the zoomed view is presented at a zoom-level that is selected (i) to be less than or equal to a predetermined zoom-level and (ii) to maximize a fraction occupied by the depicted instance of the face within the zoomed view of the digital image.
Patent no.-US9715616
A sequence of biometric data images is received, such as, for example, a sequence of fingerprint images, and a set of biometric data images is selected from the sequence of images. The set of images can include one or more segments of at least one image in the sequence of images. One or more portions of at least one image of biometric data in the set of images can be selected to be included in the unified image of biometric data. The unified image of biometric data can be constructed using the one or more portions of the at least one image of biometric data. If the unified image of biometric data is not complete, a user can be prompted for one or more additional images of biometric data.
Patent no.-US9715584
An electronic device provides a tracking report to a computing device that is located remotely from the electronic device. The tracking report may include location information that identifies the geographical location of the electronic device, and device user information that identifies the user of the electronic device. The electronic device acquires location information for the tracking report through a location awareness capability such as a global positioning system. The electronic device acquires user identification information for the tracking report through a biometric scanning component, such as a finger print sensor or other device that senses biometric properties when a user is touching or in close proximity to the device.
Patent no.-US9715500
Methods and systems for publishing a playlist are disclosed. A user generates or selects a playlist, which is then provided (e.g., uploaded) for publishing. A playlist identifying at least one of one or more tracks and one or more albums is received. The playlist may then be published such that the playlist is viewable by one or more individuals. A user may then purchase one or more tracks/albums identified in the playlist via an online store.
Patent no.-US9715487
Multi-level naming of grouped data is disclosed. In some embodiments, a specification of a plurality of levels of headers with respect to at least one dimension of a group of cells is received, and header cell values of header cells comprising the plurality of levels of headers are enabled to refer to one or more associated cells in the group of cells.
Patent no.-US9715394
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 view be modified according to the earlier version. In response to the second user input, the current view is modified according to the earlier version.
Patent no.-US9715386
In an embodiment, a processor may implement a conditional stop instruction that includes a first predicate vector identifying the active elements of the instruction, a second predicate vector indicating true and false results for a conditional expression within a loop that is being vectorized, and a source operand specifying which combinations in the true and false results may indicate a dependency. The conditional stop instruction may generate a vector result indicating vector elements that have a dependency on a prior vector element, as well as an identification of which element position the dependency is on. More particularly, dependencies may be detected only on active elements as indicated by the first predicate vector. False dependencies that may occur due to inactive elements may be avoided, which may improve performance and/or provide for correct functional operation.
Patent no.-US9715306
A multi-stimulus controller for a multi-touch sensor is formed on a single integrated circuit (single-chip). The multi-stimulus controller includes a transmit oscillator, a transmit signal section that generates a plurality of drive signals based on a frequency of the transmit oscillator, a plurality of transmit channels that transmit the drive signals simultaneously to drive the multi-touch sensor, a receive channel that receives a sense signal resulting from the driving of the multi-touch sensor, a receive oscillator, and a demodulation section that demodulates the received sense signal based on a frequency of the receive oscillator to obtain sensing results, the demodulation section including a demodulator and a vector operator.
Patent no.-US9715301
In various implementations, a sensor operates in a force sensing mode by determining an applied force based on a first change in capacitance between first and second electrodes related to compression of a compressible material positioned between while the third electrode functions as a shield and in a proximity sensing mode by sensing proximity of an object based on a second change in capacitance of the third electrode while the first and/or second electrodes function as a shield. In some implementations, a device has a cover glass including a surface having a display area, an edge surface, and a cavity; a touch sensing electrode oriented toward the surface; an electrode positioned in the cavity oriented toward the edge surface; and a processing unit operable to detect touch or proximity of an object to the edge surface based on a change in capacitance between the electrode and the object.
Patent no. – US9715262
A wired-line transmitter may include architecture that provides control of the current profile during power-up and/or power-down of the transmitter. The current profile may include a sloped ramp up during power-up and/or a sloped ramp down during power-down. The sloped ramps of the current profile mitigate supply bouncing during power-up and/or power-down. Individual enable signals may be derived from an enable signal provided to the transmitter. These individual enable signals may be provided (or turned off) in a time delayed (e.g., staggered) manner to provide the sloped ramps for the current profile.
Patent no. – US9715257
An electronic device includes one or more screens, multiple screen protectors moveable between a retracted position and extended position where they extend above the screen to create a gap, and one or more sensors. When the sensor detects a drop event, the screen protectors move from the retracted to extended position, functioning as a shock absorber and preventing the screen from connecting with a surface that the electronic device contacts. In some implementations, the screen protectors may be multiple tabs that may be moved between the retracted and extended positions by one or more motors and/or other actuators coupled to one or more pinions. Such tabs may be formed of various flexible and/or rigid materials such as plastic, plastic film, polyethylene terephthalate or other polymers, metal, thin film metal, combinations thereof, and/or other such materials.
Patent no.-US9715107
A scanning device includes a substrate, which is etched to define an array of two or more parallel rotating members and a gimbal surrounding the rotating members. First hinges connect the gimbal to the substrate and defining a first axis of rotation, about which the gimbal rotates relative to the substrate. Second hinges connect the rotating members to the support and defining respective second, mutually-parallel axes of rotation of the rotating members relative to the support, which are not parallel to the first axis.
Patent no.-US9713865
Magnetic apparatuses and systems for shaping parts are described. One or more magnets can be used to direct a magnetically responsive fluid having magnetically responsive particles around surfaces of a part. The magnetically responsive fluid can include abrasive particles that follow movement of the magnetically responsive fluid across surfaces of the part and remove material from the part until the part takes on a desired shape. The magnetic apparatuses can be configured to provide a rough cut, similar to machining process, and/or a fine cut, similar to polishing or buffing process, to the part.
Patent no.-US9713851
A method and system for securing a flexible circuit to a mounting structure is disclosed. The system can include a surface-mount device, flexible circuit, stiffener, and bracket. The stiffener is used as an intermediate coupling device between the flexible circuit and bracket. The flexible circuit is coupled to the stiffener with a heat-activated adhesive. Next, the surface-mount device is mounted to the flexible circuit with surface-mounting techniques. A peripheral area of the stiffener is then welded to the bracket. The bracket in turn can be fastened to the enclosure of an electronic device.