Latest Apple Patents

While Apple is still as secretive as always about what its plans are, one can always get an update via the Patent and Trademark Office. The company has just had several patents approved and has submitted an application for yet another.

Of the patents received by the company, four are related to the iPod, making them a potential source of information about the next generation of Apple portable music players. Unfortunately, no design details have been published and the illustrations do not offer any insight into the company's plans. Although nothing is apparently different, in the illustrations and it is impossible to tell exactly what they contain, the names on the patents include Apple CEO Steve Jobs and lead designer Jonathan Ive.

Another approved patent details a "method and apparatus for uploading mass-distributed content to a server." According to it, users divide data into smaller chunks of a set size, each having a codeword. From the function of the set of individual codewords, a composite one is generated and the data as a whole is given a distinguishing identifier. Both this identifier and the composite codeword can then be sent to the server, which checks to see if the data is already present.

Last but not least, Apple is trying to patent the ProRes 422 format that is used in Final Cut Pro 6. According to the company, ProRes 422 provides the quality of uncompressed HD video, while taking up no more space than a similar SD file. Because of its quality/size ratio, the format is extremely practical when sharing over a network or when relying on portable storage.

Unfortunately, none of the patents hold any interesting tidbits of information, such as something about the mysterious product transition that Apple has hinted at. The only one that really stands out is the one for 'mass-distributed content' which has little to do with Apple's current products and services.