Apple Patents Hint at Tactile Feedback, Fingerprint ID for Future iPhones

Recent Apple patents hint at new features that could appear in future iPhones. Most interesting is a patent detailing haptic tactile feedback for iPhone — that is, the ability for users to feel the virtual keys they’re pressing on the touchscreen.

The idea of haptic tactile feedback is such: The iPhone’s vibrations would simulate the vibrations felt when typing on a physical keyboard, so when you’re typing you can “feel” the edge of each key. This would eliminate the need to look at the screen while typing.

Another patent explains fingerprint identification on the iPhone. Not in the traditional sense to secure your iPhone (although it could probably be used for that, too) but rather fingerprint IDing as an input method to play music and navigate the iPhone menu. For example, a fingerprint from the index finger would trigger the Play and Stop buttons in the iPod. And a fingerprint from the middle finger would trigger fast-forwarding in the iPod. Pretty neat idea, huh?

A third patent covers how a radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader would work on iPhone. RFID tags are generally used for tracking items such as library books; thus, an RFID reader would more likely have business applications. Apple suggests using an RFID antenna placed in the touch sensor panel.

source: Wired.com

Second University Requires Students to Buy iPod Touch

Some freshmen at the University of Florida are required to start school with an iPod Touch in hand.

Officials recently put “important notice” up red text on the College of Pharmacy website to warn the fall class of 2009 that they must show up for class with an iPod touch or an iPhone.

The 8G model, which will set freshmen back $229 unless they get it with the back-to-school offer, meets the minimum requirement.

The Florida decision comes a couple of months after the University of Missouri journalism school first said they required the Apple device for new students, then backed down on whether the requirement was, uh, really a requirement  or simply recommended after criticism that they were pushing Apple products and bumping up student expenses.

source: Cult of Mac

Apple Issues Heat Advisory for iPhone 3G, 3GS

Whether or not anecdotal reports of iPhones overheating are true or not, Apple has taken them seriously enough to reveal the presence of a temperature warning screen for the iPhone 3G and 3GS.

Here’s the deal: an unknown but probably very small number of iPhones have been affected by overheating, to the point that some white iPhone 3GSes have allegedly turned pink. Sascha Segan, our phone analyst, said he hasn’t seen any such problems with his iPhone 3GS, however.

Apple, however, has issued what some might call a “common sense” warning: a support document that warns users not to keep the iPhone in an environment where temperatures can exceed 113 degrees Fahrenheit, including parked cars.

But Apple also warns that CPU-intensive applications, such playing music or using the GPS while in direct sunlight may also overheat the iPhone.

In that case, actually using the iPhone in temperatures over 95 degrees can also trigger the temperature warning. “Low- or high-temperature conditions might temporarily shorten battery life or cause the device to temporarily stop working properly,” Apple warns.

Obviously, summer temperatures in many locations top 95 degrees.Las Vegas, for example, has forecasts topping 100 degrees for the next 10 days; Phoenix routinely climbs above 103.

So what will happen? Read on…

Apple Backs Energy-Saving Universal Phone Charger

The European Commission (EC) announced today that 10 mobile phone manufacturers and chip producers, including Apple, have signed up to an initiative designed to cut down on electronic waste and improve energy efficiency through the production of standardized mobile phone chargers.

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WWDC banners are up: Let the guessing game begin

Apple has started decorating San Francisco’s Moscone Center in anticipation of the Worldwide Developers Conference, which opens Monday morning.

And as has become tradition, when the banners go up, the seemingly round-the-clock guessing game of what Apple will announce intensifies. This year, the banners say “WWDC: One year later. Light-years ahead.” Now the objective for many is parsing that phrase and poring over every image on the banner to extract some sort of meaning.

The phrase itself, plus all the application icons on the banners, indicate the centerpiece of the conference will be the App Store and the new features of the iPhone OS 3.0. Apple said as much in its announcement of the conference keynote address, which is on Monday at 10 a.m. PDT. We know there will be discussion of the updated mobile operating system as well as more details on OS X 10.6, or Snow Leopard. And of course, there have been previous indications that a new iPhone is on the way.

The iPhone Blog points out that the App Store did launch in July, not in early June at WWDC last year, so it hasn’t technically been “one year later.” Gizmodo thinks “light-years ahead” is a snarky reference to the jumble of competing smartphones debuting soon–particularly the Palm Pre, which launches two days before WWDC opens.

TUAW took out its copy editor’s pen, noting that “a year is a measure of time while a light year is a measure of distance.” Of course, anyone who remembers “Think Different” knows Apple slogans haven’t always been bound by the traditional rules of grammar.

In any case, all the mysteries will be solved by the end of Monday’s keynote speech, which we’ll be live-blogging. Until then, check out the gallery of photos below that we snapped Wednesday morning.

source: CNET.com

Report: Steve Jobs recovered, set for timely return to Apple

It appears as if Steve Jobs will indeed return to Apple by the end of June after taking a six-month leave from the company. The world is watching to see whether he’ll make a surprise appearance at WWDC next week, though many believe he’s saving that surprise for another time.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is reportedly on track to return to Apple full-time later this month, right on schedule. Insiders speaking to The Wall Street Journal claim that Jobs’ recovery is “coming along” and that Apple’s directors have been receiving weekly updates since Jobs took leave in January. Whether or not we’ll see him at next week’s WWDC keynote, however, remains up in the air.

“He was one real sick guy,” one of the WSJ‘s sources said. “Fundamentally he was starving to death over a nine-month period. He couldn’t digest protein. [But] he took corrective action.”

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Apple calls Twitter a ” Triumph of humanity.”

Twitter’s meteoric rise to ubiquity is proof positive that the world, in all its complexity, is eager to embrace simplicity. Wielding more impact on social networking than most communication tools this generation has yet seen, Twitter is one of those universal phenomena where the product name self-conjugates. To engage with Twitter is to “tweet.”

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