Edward Kirk
July 16th, 2009, 06:20 PM
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The U.S. Patent and Trademark office published two new patent applications today showing that Apple is considering the use of flash memory in headsets to store device settings, as well as an attempt to patent the ability to tether with a car's navigation system for GPS navigation. <!--break-->
The first patent, titled <i>Data store and enhanced features for headset of portable media device (#<a href="http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=6&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=Apple.AS.&OS=AN/Apple&RS=AN/Apple" target="_blank">20090182913</a>)</i>, considers the benefits of building a small amount of flash storage into iPhone headsets that could store device settings. This could potentially streamline the setup process for new devices. A user could possibly plug their headset in to the device and the settings from their previous device would be immediately transfered into the new one. The patent includes where the memory would be located, and how the data would be transferred across the headphone jack.
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<center><img src="http://www.iphonealley.com/images/storyimages/july09/hedset_memorypatent.jpg"/></center>
The second patent discusses tethering a mobile device like the iPhone to a car's navigation system to feed it data on the vehicle's speed, fuel consumption and break application. This would allow it to more accurately estimate the time of arrival.
<center><img src="http://www.iphonealley.com/images/storyimages/july09/16-patent-2.gif"/></center>
[via <a href="http://www.unwiredview.com/2009/07/16/apple-thinks-of-adding-flash-memory-to-headsets-to-ease-new-device-configs/" target="_blank">Unwired View</a>]</div>
The U.S. Patent and Trademark office published two new patent applications today showing that Apple is considering the use of flash memory in headsets to store device settings, as well as an attempt to patent the ability to tether with a car's navigation system for GPS navigation. <!--break-->
The first patent, titled <i>Data store and enhanced features for headset of portable media device (#<a href="http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=6&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=Apple.AS.&OS=AN/Apple&RS=AN/Apple" target="_blank">20090182913</a>)</i>, considers the benefits of building a small amount of flash storage into iPhone headsets that could store device settings. This could potentially streamline the setup process for new devices. A user could possibly plug their headset in to the device and the settings from their previous device would be immediately transfered into the new one. The patent includes where the memory would be located, and how the data would be transferred across the headphone jack.
<br clear="all"/>
<center><img src="http://www.iphonealley.com/images/storyimages/july09/hedset_memorypatent.jpg"/></center>
The second patent discusses tethering a mobile device like the iPhone to a car's navigation system to feed it data on the vehicle's speed, fuel consumption and break application. This would allow it to more accurately estimate the time of arrival.
<center><img src="http://www.iphonealley.com/images/storyimages/july09/16-patent-2.gif"/></center>
[via <a href="http://www.unwiredview.com/2009/07/16/apple-thinks-of-adding-flash-memory-to-headsets-to-ease-new-device-configs/" target="_blank">Unwired View</a>]</div>