Apple Patents Location-Based Content

by Eric March on May 19, 2008 at 9:33 pm

Wait, what? Weren’t we just speculating about this? Actually, no — this isn’t quite the “location-based content” I went over in my last article. This is similar, yet different. You may recall several rumours in the past about the iPhone and iPod Touch being given the ability to place orders at your favourite café through WiFi. Apple evidently thinks that this is a pretty good idea, but also seems to feel that it doesn’t go nearly far enough.

Apple’s latest patent filing (US patent #20080113614, dubbed “Personal media devices with wireless communication”) is actually a lot cooler than that. The idea behind Apple’s version of location-based content involves public establishments getting hooked up with WiFi routers connected to a server over a local area network in order to deliver content wirelessly to connected devices that can be tailored to the individual. The wireless device, such as the iPhone or iPod Touch, could connect to their WiFi network and, receive a listing of available items and, through preference settings, be able to communicate to the server someone’s order, and any personal preferences or requirements. To use an example listed in the filing:

For example, assuming the establishment is a restaurant, local server 1010 may provide a menu to media device 1020. A user may choose contents in the menu for an order by interfacing with device 1020 and submit the order to local server 1010 when complete. Local server 1010 may then process that order upon receipt…. in a restaurant, each table may include a docking station… when a user places an order… the merchant may know which table placed the order.

Tagging along with the order could be personal preferences and requirements, such as dietary restrictions (No dairy products, nut allergy, vegan-only items, etc.), special instructions (Lightly done, extra foam), and so on.

Apple has thought ahead to further possibilities for location-based services, such as wireless-enabled movie theatres that could provide a listing of movies and times, concert halls with a listing of venues and ticket pricing, department stores with a browsable catalogue and list of current sales, music stores that can deliver audio samples, album art, and so on. There are a wealth of possibilities with such technology, and since it is WiFi-based, it would already be available on all current iPhones and iPod Touch devices without requiring any special hardware.

Not to belabor my last post, but if this could be combined with the other type of location-based content, the iPhone could become a true force to be reckoned with.

(Source: Palluxo!)