5 Patents that Reveal Games, GPS and More on iPhone 2.0

Posted by Jody Mitoma on May 19, 2008 at 10:52 pm

Apple has been keeping their mouths shut about the second generation iPhone, and I must admit, they’ve been doing one hell of a job, too. The people over at Dial-a-Phone have taken some time out of their day to take a look at some of the patents that Apple has been filing within the past 12 months, to try and find any clues they may have left for us to find.

Below are the surprising results found within these patent filings that show how Apple might be planning to include GPS, games, and perhaps even be looking into becoming an MVNO(?).

Personal Media Devices with Wireless Communication (published May 15th 2008)

This patent details how WiFi enabled devices can communicate with other local devices. One particular item of note is how the device (which could be a WiFi enabled iPod or the iPhone 2.0) can download menus in restaurants and order food using the phones interface.

For example, if the merchant is a restaurant, the merchant may provide a menu to the personal media device and the user may place an order on his or her media device by selecting items on the menu.

System and Method for Processing Images Using Predetermined Tone Reproduction Curves (published April 17th 2008)

The iPhone 2.0 is rumoured to have a better camera than the first iPhone. This patent details an image processing method to help with that.

An automated RAW image processing method and system are disclosed. A RAW image and metadata related to the RAW image are obtained from a digital camera or other source. The RAW image and the related metadata are automatically processed using an Operating System service of a processing device to produce a resulting image in an absolute color space. When automatically processing, a predetermined tone reproduction curve is applied to the interpolate RAW image to produce the resulting image. The predetermined tone reproduction curve is derived from a plurality of reference images and is selected based on the metadata associated with the RAW image. The resulting image is then made available to an application program executing on the processing device through an application program interface with the Operating System service.

Multi-Functional Handheld Device (published April 17, 2008)

Apples keeps the text of this patent vague and describes what could easily be the first iPhone. However as you can see in the image below the interface has GPS and games as icons on the screen which are the two main additions expected on the iPhone 2.0.

Disclosed herein is a multi-functional hand-held device capable of configuring user inputs based on how the device is to be used. Preferably, the multi-functional hand-held device has at most only a few physical buttons, keys, or switches so that its display size can be substantially increased. The multi-functional hand-held device also incorporates a variety of input mechanisms, including touch sensitive screens, touch sensitive housings, display actuators, audio input, etc. The device also incorporates a user-configurable GUI for each of the multiple functions of the devices.

Dynamic Carrier Selection (published April 10th 2008)

Apple has so far tied the iPhone to a particular carrier in each country. This patent indicates they might be looking towards becoming an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) and perhaps auctioning calls to the lowest bidder.

A typical mobile phone or other cellular communication device is preprogrammed with a carrier or network operator that serves as the home network for the device. Normally, the device communicates over the home network when it is in an area served by the home network. When the device is outside of the home network area (or is roaming), the device typically uses a preferred roaming list to determine which network operator or carrier to use. In other words, the phone is programmed with a preferred roaming list, which is a list of identifiers for carriers that can be used, in order of preference, when the home carrier cannot be used.

In some cases, a service subscriber is served by a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). An MVNO is a mobile operator that does not own communications spectrum and typically does not possess any network infrastructure. Instead, MVNO’s contract with traditional mobile operators to buy service (e.g., usage minutes) for their own customers. An MVNO is typically tied to a specific carrier (e.g., Sprint or Verizon, which does own spectrum and has its own network infrastructure). Accordingly, primary service to an MVNO customer is provided through that specific carrier (i.e., the carrier is the “home” carrier).

Location-based Media Presentation (published November 1st 2007)

This patent again alludes to the iPhone 2.0 having GPS as a core function. It describes how media can be displayed according to geographical location for example when you enter a museum you might like to have a guide book popup on your screen or when you visit a town a directory of bars and restaurants might open up.

Note: Most of this story was taken from the source link.

Check out the source link below for more information.

(Source: Dial-a-Phone UK)

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