Patents Assigned to Apples Inc.
  • Patent number: 10068157
    Abstract: By providing 3D representations of noteworthy locations for comparison with images, the 3D location of the imaging device, as well as the orientation of the device may be determined. The 3D location and orientation of the imaging device then allows for enhanced navigation in a collection of images, as well as enhanced visualization and editing capabilities. The 3D representations of noteworthy locations may be provided in a database that may be stored local or remote to the imaging device or a programmable device processing images obtained from the imaging device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jan Erik Solem, Jerremy Holland
  • Patent number: 10068120
    Abstract: Improving fingerprint image measurement despite damage to the stratum corneum. Determining whether a fingerprint image is adequate for matching with a database. If not, re-measure those image portions that are inadequate (overexposed or underexposed), such re-measuring a minimal selection of image portions. An amount of time or power to re-measure is minimized. Improving fingerprint image data collection despite fixed pattern noise like saturated bars in blocks of picture elements. Determining a histogram of grayscale values, removing fixed pattern noise, and expanding real histogram values to obtain more bits of precision.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Benjamin B. Lyon, Giovanni Gozzini
  • Patent number: 10070342
    Abstract: A method includes sampling a common signal over a plurality of iterations, concatenating the sampled iterations, summing samples of the concatenated iterations within a window of a predetermined sample width, at each of a plurality of window positions along the concatenated iterations, and estimating noise of the common signal from the summed sample values at the window positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Steven E. Saunders, Alexandros Michael Tourapis, Krasimir Kolarov
  • Patent number: 10067734
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for detecting a wearing status of a wearable device, the wearing status indicating whether a user is wearing the wearable device and sending wearing status data to a companion communication device to control a behavior of the companion communication device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Robert D. Watson, David John Shaw, Arun Dhyaneshwar Chawan, Matthew Gillette, Ganesha Adkasthala Ganapathi Batta, Jeffrey Chandler Moore, Patrick Ian Bernhard, Baek San Chang, Patrick Lee Coffman, Jonathan Anderson Bennett, Anthony Guetta, Jahan Christian Minoo, Keith Walter Rauenbuehler
  • Patent number: 10067797
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus for a parallel computing program calling APIs (application programming interfaces) in a host processor to perform a data processing task in parallel among compute units are described. The compute units are coupled to the host processor including central processing units (CPUs) and graphic processing units (GPUs). A program object corresponding to a source code for the data processing task is generated in a memory coupled to the host processor according to the API calls. Executable codes for the compute units are generated from the program object according to the API calls to be loaded for concurrent execution among the compute units to perform the data processing task.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Aaftab Munshi, Nathaniel Begeman
  • Patent number: 10067657
    Abstract: This invention is directed to defining quick groups for easily associating keywords with an object (e.g., a media objection) accessible using an electronic device. The user of an electronic device may define several keywords that identify attributes of an object accessible using the electronic device. The user may associate keywords with an object to link the attribute of the keyword with the object (e.g., associate a keyword entitled “vacation” to vacation pictures). The user may assign a shortcut key to each of a subset of the keywords, referred to as quick groups, by which the user may rapidly associate the keyword to an Object. In some embodiments, the electronic device may select the shortcut key of a quick group from the letters of the quick group to help the user remember the shortcut key.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Joshua Fagans, Timothy B. Martin, Matt Evans
  • Patent number: 10067645
    Abstract: In accordance with some embodiments, a method is performed at an electronic device. The device displays a first user interface including a background with a first appearance and foreground objects. While displaying the first user interface, the device detects a first input while a first focus selector is at a location in the first user interface that corresponds to the background of the first user interface. In response, if the contact has a characteristic intensity above a first intensity threshold, the device dynamically changes the background without changing the foreground objects, wherein the dynamic change in the background is based on the characteristic intensity of the contact. While dynamically changing the background, detecting termination of the first input; and, in response, the device reverts the background back to the first appearance of the background.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Nicholas V. King, Sebastian J. Bauer, Imran A. Chaudhri, Alan C. Dye, Christopher P. Foss, Jonathan Ive, Behkish J. Manzari, Henrique D. Penha, Daniel T. Preston, Christopher I. Wilson
  • Patent number: 10069319
    Abstract: Systems and methods for power management are disclosed herein. In one disclosed embodiment, a battery charging system includes a battery charger for simultaneously charging a battery (and/or providing power to a system load) with multiple power sources, using a closed-loop charging servo target based on measurements taken by one or more gauges. In some embodiments, the multiple power sources may be utilized simultaneously according to a charging profile that specifies, e.g., one or more battery charging parameters, as well as according to determined priority levels for one or more of the multiple power sources coupled to the battery. In some embodiments, the priority level of a given power source is not fixed; rather, the priority level for the given power source may change based upon the characteristics of the given power source. In some embodiments, the priority levels for the multiple power sources are implemented using cascaded voltage target values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas C. Greening, Kamran M. Hasan
  • Patent number: 10068203
    Abstract: Methods and systems for managing To do items and/or notes and/or emails (or other electronic messages) are described. A record, such as a To do item, in a database maintained locally by the data processing system is encoded into metadata. The metadata is sent as a false email message by an email client application executing on the data processing system to a remote email message server. An email client application executing on a remote processing system accesses the email message server and receives the false email message containing the metadata. The remote client application then either converts the metadata back into a database record editable at the remote processing system or presents a non-editable view of the database record, for example as an incoming email message.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Brendan Langoulant, Stephen Lemay, Scott Forstall, David Paul Hearst, Hernan Rodrigo Eguiluz, Gregory Christie
  • Patent number: 10066975
    Abstract: An environmental seal is formed around a square sensor disposed beneath a circular button cap within a button assembly. The button assembly includes shelf portions each extending separately into the interior of the assembly from a sidewall of the assembly. Portions of the sidewall are exposed between the shelf portions large enough to permit the four corners of the square sensor to contact the sidewall. The button cap is set above the sensor, resting upon the shelf portions. A first sealant bonds the top faces of the shelf portions to the bottom of the button cap. A second sealant bonds the edges of the sidewall to the corners of the sensor. The second sealant interfaces with the first sealant to form a complete environmental seal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Matthew P. Rao, Scott A. Myers, James R. Krogdahl, Alex M. Lee
  • Patent number: 10067535
    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with a display mounted in a housing. The display may have an array of display pixels that provide image light to a user. The array of display pixels may form an active display structure with a rectangular shape. The rectangular active display structure may be surrounded by an inactive border region. Optical structures such as upper structures formed from a sheet of glass and lower optical structures that lie beneath the sheet of glass may be configured to bend light from the display pixels along the periphery of the active display structure. The upper optical structures may have an area that is larger than the area of the active display structure, so that the presence of the optical structures may serve to enlarge the apparent size of the display. The lower and upper optical structures may have curved surfaces for bending the light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher D. Prest, Tseng-Mau Yang, Dale N. Memering
  • Patent number: 10070273
    Abstract: In order to flexibly manage and broadcast content to electronic devices in a multicast group, a multicast group management protocol allows one or more multicast group masters to be specified. In addition to controlling membership in the multicast group, a multicast group master can define or specify a multicast session, in which content from one or more sources is broadcast to at least a subset of the electronic devices or sinks in the multicast group. The multicast group management protocol supports concurrent broadcasts of content to different multicast sessions. Moreover, the broadcasts in the different multicast sessions may have different: priorities, encoding techniques, quality-of-service policies, reliability, and/or number of parity bits. For example, the different encoding techniques may include different layers in H.264 Scalable Video Coding. Alternatively or additionally, the different number of parity bits may be associated with application layer forward error correction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Guoqing Li, Su Khiong Yong, Yong Liu, Christiaan A. Hartman, Gregory Chapman, Eric San Fung Lee, Chiu Ngok E. Wong
  • Patent number: 10067625
    Abstract: A force applied to a force-sensing touch screen device may be determined as follows. A deformation sensing layer of the device may measure an actual deformation of a touch screen of the device. A force sensor of the device may measure a sensed force applied by the touch screen to the force sensor of the device. A processor circuit of the device may determine an expected deformation expected to be imparted to the touch screen by the sensed force. The processor circuit may determine a virtual deformation based on the expected deformation due to the sensed force and the measured actual deformation. The virtual deformation may indicate the force applied to the force-sensing touch screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: David Steven Graff
  • Patent number: 10068727
    Abstract: An illuminator may be coupled to the key cap of a key. The key cap may include a portion that is operable to be illuminated and one or more illuminators may be coupled thereto. In particular embodiments, keys may include power delivery systems that are operable to wirelessly transmit power from a power source to illuminators. Such power delivery systems can include inductive transmitters and/or receivers, ultrasonic transmitters and/or receivers, laser diodes and photodiodes, electrodes that capacitively couple to wirelessly transfer power, and so on. In various embodiments, keys may include interconnects that connect an illuminator with a power source. The interconnect may be a flexible material that includes one or more traces and is configured with a shape that bends and twists to allow movement without stretching. The interconnect may also be part of a movement or support mechanism of a key.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Ray L. Chang, Robert M. Proie, Jr.
  • Patent number: 10069100
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a display. The device and display may bend about a bend axis. The display may have layers such as an organic light-emitting diode layer or other layer with pixels, a touch sensor layer, a protective layer with a polarizer, and a support layer. Lubrication layers formed from textured surfaces, slippery coatings, and lubricants such as oil may be interposed between the layers of the display so that the display layers slip past each other during bending of the device and display and minimize display stress. A device housing may have a recess or other structures that retain the display within the housing while allowing the display layers to shift relative to each other during bending. Elastomeric gaskets and elastomeric lubricant retention structures may be used to mount the display layers in the housing and to retain liquid lubricant within the layers of the display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Zhen Zhang, Paul S. Drzaic
  • Patent number: 10069785
    Abstract: Messaging between a companion device and an accessory device is controlled such that different modes of communication may be utilized. The different modes can implement different messaging strategies, each of which is intended for efficient power management, in view of the limited electrical power that is typically available at the accessory device. A received request message for sending from the companion device to the accessory device is sent if predetermined conditions apply, and similarly for messages from the accessory device to the companion device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander Ledwith, Christopher C. Jensen, John J. Iarocci, Marc J. Krochmal, Ziv Wolkowicki, Daniel B. Pollack, Darin B. Adler
  • Patent number: 10070193
    Abstract: The systems described herein include a universal browse and watch list that can provide a centralized user interface for presenting recently watched, recommended, and continue watching content items provided by different content providers. For example, a media device can include multiple content provider applications for viewing media items on the media device. When a content provider application presents a media item, the content provider application can send playback status data to a content aggregator application on the media device. The content aggregator application can provide the playback status data to a content aggregator server. The content aggregator application can interact with a content aggregator server to determine which content providers can provide the played media item or related media items. The content aggregator application can provide a centralized user interface that allows the user to initiate playback of media items provided by the various content providers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Lucas C. Newman, Derek A. Hunter, Sandip M. Chokshi
  • Patent number: 10066970
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method and system for dynamically controlling a current that is applied to a light source of an optical encoder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Baboo V. Gowreesunker, Wayne C. Westerman, Prashanth S. Holenarsipur
  • Patent number: D827432
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jody Akana, Bartley K. Andre, Shota Aoyagi, Anthony Michael Ashcroft, Jeremy Bataillou, Daniel J. Coster, Daniele De Iuliis, M. Evans Hankey, Julian Hoenig, Richard P. Howarth, Jonathan P. Ive, Duncan Robert Kerr, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Peter Russell-Clarke, Benjamin Andrew Shaffer, Mikael Silvanto, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang, Rico Zörkendörfer
  • Patent number: D827615
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jody Akana, Bartley K. Andre, Jeremy Bataillou, Daniel J. Coster, Daniele De Iuliis, M. Evans Hankey, Julian Hoenig, Richard P. Howarth, Jonathan P. Ive, Duncan Robert Kerr, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Peter Russell-Clarke, Mikael Silvanto, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang, Rico Zörkendörfer