Apple’s Exploration of Pressure Sensitive Touch Screens Continues With New Patent Application

Apple is exploring touch screen technology that determines pressure sensitivity using a combination of capacitive touch and infrared light sensing, according to a new patent application recently published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (via AppleInsider).

The patent describes a method of determining the force of a user’s touch on a capacitive screen using infrared transmit lines from transmitters and receivers positioned under the frame of the cover glass. Capacitive touch combined with light would determine both the position of the finger and distinguish a soft touch from a harder touch, allowing Apple to implement gestures that could vary with force.

Using infrared light to determine where a user touches a screen is a method known as Frustrated Total Internal Reflection, or FTIR. FTIR is essentially a light-based way to detect multitouch, bouncing infrared light off of the touch screen to detect interference from a finger. When combined with capacitive touch, the interference measurements can also deduce force.

FTIR has been used by Microsoft for its Perceptive Pixel products, as noted in Apple’s patent application. Microsoft offers several large-screened multi-touch sensing devices that use FTIR and offers a technology called Microsoft PixelSense, which is used in the Samsung SUR40.

As implemented by Microsoft, the FTIR technology, which uses cameras to detect light refracted by pressure, allows multiple people to use the device at once and it also recognizes and distinguishes objects that are not fingers.

Though Apple has not yet built pressure sensitivity into the touch screens of its mobile devices, the company has been looking at various techniques for implementing pressure detection over the last several years. In addition to infrared light, Apple has explored force sensors, spring membranes, and pressure sensitive device casings.

Given Apple’s continued interest in pressure sensitive touch screens and competing products that already include pressure sensitivity, such as Microsoft’s Surface Pro line of tablets, the implementation of the technology in some form or another seems like a logical step for Apple’s future mobile devices.

Elgato Becomes Latest Company to Launch Thunderbolt Docking Station [Mac Blog]

Since late 2012, a number of accessory manufacturers have released docking stations taking advantage of Thunderbolt technology to allow users to connect a number of different types of devices to their machines with a single cable. Matrox was the first to reach market with its DS1, and similar offerings from Belkin and CalDigit have since been released.

Popular TV and video accessory maker Elgato has now released its own dock, offering three USB 3.0 ports, a pair of Thunderbolt ports to support pass-through, HDMI and Ethernet ports, as well as headphone and microphone jacks.

In addition to the hardware, Elgato has also released a free menu bar utility that allows for easy ejection of mounted storage devices while also enabling high-power USB support.

In terms of connectivity, Elgato’s dock is most similar to CalDigit’s Thunderbolt Station, with each supporting the same set of ports. Matrox’s docking station offers only a single USB 3.0 port (plus two USB 2.0 ports) and only a single Thunderbolt port, which limits users to placing the dock at the end of a Thunderbolt chain. Belkin’s Thunderbolt Express Dock does away with a dedicated HDMI port and instead expects users to use one of the dock’s two Thunderbolt ports for display connectivity. Belkin’s dock does, however, include a FireWire 800 port.

Sonnet announced an even more expansive dock including internal storage and DVD/Blu-ray drives a year ago, although its release has been pushed back as Sonnet redesigns it to include support for the new Thunderbolt 2 standard supported on the latest Mac Pro and Retina MacBook Pro models.

Elgato’s Thunderbolt Dock launches today on Amazon (although currently listed as out of stock) with a suggested retail price of $229.95 with a Thunderbolt cable. A $199.95 version without cable is also available.

Micron’s DDR4 RAM May Improve Battery Life in Apple’s 2014 Products

Apple’s customers may receive a boost in performance and improved battery life from the company’s 2014 products thanks to improvements in Micron’s LPDDR4 DRAM technology, claims Matt Margolis (Via 9to5Mac).

According to Margolis, Micron is ramping up production of its DDR4 RAM and will supply Apple with memory chips for its 2014 iPad, iPhone and Mac models, which are expected to debut later this year. Margolis believes a “mystery” $250 million payment Micro received for “product to be supplied through September 2016″ is from Apple as part of a multi-year deal.

Apple is a current DRAM customer of Micron Technology, having last used Micron’s LPDDR3 DRAM memory in 2013. Micron presented detailed benefits and product highlights regarding their LPDDR4 DRAM Memory technology almost a year ago. Furthermore, just yesterday Micron’s Vice President of Wireless Solutions Marketing published an article highlighting the benefits of Micron’s next generation DRAM LPDDR4, which tells me this technology is ready for the big show. Lastly, Micron received a mystery payment of $250m from one customer that was reported during their Q1 2014 conference call and their 10-Q indicates that the payment was “for product to be supplied through September 2016″.

Apple is in an arm’s race to improve the performance of their mobile, tablet and ultrabook devices and improve overall battery life. There appears to be little doubt that Apple is going to be showing off Micron’s LPDDR4 DRAM memory across their 2014 iPhones, Macbook and Tablets. You can take my word for it that Apple users are going to love how “lightning quick” the 2014 devices will be compared to the 2013 devices.

Though not confirmed, this transaction is plausible as Apple currently uses Micron’s LPDDR3 DRAM in its 2013 models under the brand name of Elpida, a company that Micron acquired in July 2013. Even earlier, Apple reportedly inked a deal for DRAM chips with Elpida in 2012 that purchased half of the capacity at the firm’s main manufacturing facility in Japan.

This new DDR4 RAM technology offers two times the bandwidth performance of the previous genration LPDDR3, while keeping power consumption low, claims Reynette Au, Micron’s Vice President of Wireless Solutions Marketing, in an article at Wirelessweek.

These technological advancements in DDR4 RAM may complement Apple’s 64-bit A-series processor, which powers the iPhone 5s, iPad Air and Retina iPad mini. Detailed analysis from Anandtech claims Apple’s current A7 processor is so powerful that users are likely to encounter RAM bottlenecks and battery consumption limitations before overextending the CPU.

Apple Joins Lobbying Group to Influence Patent Legislation [Mac Blog]

Major US companies from various business sectors have joined together to form a lobbying group that opposes pending patent reform legislation proposed by Congress, reports Reuters. The new Partnership for American Innovation includes Apple, DuPont, Ford, General Electric, IBM, Microsoft and Pfizer.

The change proposed by Congress would target patent assertion entities (PAEs), which purchase patents with the sole intention of licensing them to other companies or suing non-licensees for infringement. Companies, like Apple, want to limit the ability of PAEs to sue for infringement, but they are concerned that the proposed legislation may hurt actual innovations that need patent protection.

“There’s a feeling that the negative rhetoric is leading to a very anti-patent environment,” said David Kappos, director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from 2009 to 2013, who advises the group. He is with the law firm Cravath, Swaine and Moore, LLP.

In particular, the group would oppose efforts to make software or biotechnology unpatentable.

Rather than limit what ideas are patentable, the group supports efforts to penalize patent trolls for filing frivolous lawsuits. Apple, Google and other technology companies recently asked the Supreme Court to make it easier for companies to collect attorney fees when patent holding companies lose infringement lawsuits. This allocation of fees, companies argue, would cut down on the number of frivolous suits.

Apple reportedly is the number one target for patent trolls with an estimated 171 cases filed against the company in the last five years. Apple recently confirmed it has been sued 92 times in the past two years and faces 228 unresolved patent claims still in the court system.

Apple confirms WWDC 2014 will begin on June 2nd

Apple’s just announced that its annual developer conference, WWDC, will commence on June 2nd through June 6th. In a departure from its traditional application process, the company has already opened ticket sales on its website, but will now select attendees randomly instead of a first-come-first-served basis. That means we’re no longer likely to see the super-quick ticket sellouts we’ve witnessed in previous years, but a lottery will ensure there’s a fairer chance for all. We can expect to see all of the latest iOS and OS X developments, and anything else the company might have up its sleeve in a few short months.

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Source: Apple WWDC

Apple Announces WWDC 2014 Scheduled for June 2-6, Ticket Lottery Starts Today

Apple today announced that its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) for 2014 will be held June 2-6 at the Moscone West convention center in San Francisco. The company also announced that tickets for the event will go on sale starting now through Monday, April 7 starting at 10:00 AM. PDT Tickets will be issued to attendees via a random lottery.

“We have the most amazing developer community in the world and have a great week planned for them,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Every year the WWDC audience becomes more diverse, with developers from almost every discipline you can imagine and coming from every corner of the globe. We look forward to sharing with them our latest advances in iOS and OS X so they can create the next generation of great apps.”

As was the case in previous years, Apple’s requirements for purchasing a ticket to WWDC include membership in one of the company’s paid developer programs. Developers who apply for a ticket via lottery will know their status by Monday, April 7 at 5:00 PM. PDT. Student scholarships will be given to 200 students, who will be able to attend the conference for free.

‘FTL: Faster Than Light’ Now Available for iPad with New Content [iOS Blog]

Developer Subset Games today released its popular real-time strategy game FTL: Faster Than Light on the iPad, coming roughly a year after the title was released on Mac, PC, and Linux to much acclaim.

The game puts the player in the commanding role of a ship aligned with the Galactic Federation, tasked with getting vital data back to its headquarters. However, rebel ships are persistent in attacking the spacecraft, allowing players to engage in top down combat while maintaining and upgrading their ship with new weapons, crew members, and more.

The award winning PC spaceship simulation game from Subset Games comes to iPad!

Key Features:
– Give orders to your crew, manage ship power distribution and choose weapon targets in the heat of battle.
– Pause the game mid-combat to evaluate your strategy and give orders.
– Upgrade your ship and unlock new ones with the help of seven diverse alien races.
– Hundreds of text based encounters will force you to make tough decisions.
– Each play-through will feature different enemies, events, and results to your decisions. No two play-throughs will be quite the same.
– Permadeath means when you die, there’s no coming back. The constant threat of defeat adds importance and tension to every action.

The iPad version of the game also includes the FTL: Advanced Edition expansion, which offers new ship systems, events, weapons, drones, equipment, enemy types, levels and more in addition to user interface improvements.

Our sister site TouchArcade reviewed the game, regarding the iPad version of FTL as the “definitive version”, crediting the title’s touch controls and regarding them as more intuitive compared to a traditional mouse and keyboard control scheme. Overall, the title was noted as the perfect “play while you do something else game” and given a five star rating. The full review is well worth checking out, as is a video walkthrough of FTL which can be seen below.

FTL: Faster Than Light for the iPad is available for $9.99 on the App Store. [Direct Link]

‘Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff’ Coming to iPhone and iPad April 10 [iOS Blog]

At a launch event in Los Angeles tonight, Fox and development house TinyCo officially revealed that its upcoming title Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff is set to launch a week from now. First revealed last month, the game is centered around the town of Quahog, with gamers helping Peter Griffin and the rest of the town’s residents rebuild their city after a destructive fight between Peter and Ernie The Giant Chicken.

In addition to featuring all the voice actors from the series, the game features new animations along with stories and jokes from writers at Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door Productions. Much like EA’s The Simpsons: Tapped Out, the game will be a free-to-play title that includes optional in-app purchases.

Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff will be available for the iPhone and iPad on April 10.

Amazon’s Fire TV Looks A Lot Like the Rumored Apple TV Update

Earlier today Amazon launched its Fire TV media streaming box, entering a market that features fierce competition from Roku and its streaming boxes, Google’s Chromecast and the Apple TV. To help set it apart from its competitors, Amazon included an app store, strong gaming support and much more for its box, which are features that have been heavily rumored for Apple’s next generation streaming box.

While gaming on a media streaming box is nothing new, as Roku has allowed users to play games like Angry Birds on its devices, Amazon has gone through great lengths, including purchasing Killer Instinct game developer Double Helix and reaching out to third-party publishers like EA, Disney, Ubisoft and Minecraft creator Mojang, to bring 133 high quality games to the Fire TV, with more arriving in the future. In addition, they’ve launched a $39 Xbox-like controller to make it easier for users to play advanced games on the box.

Apple has long been rumored to be including gaming support on the next version of the Apple TV with support for gaming controllers. More recently, Apple and third-party hardware manufacturers have began shipping iOS 7 game controllers for iPhones, but they’ve been poorly received due to build quality issues and high price tags.

To power these high quality games, Amazon has outfitted its Fire TV with a quad-core processor, which Amazon says boasts 3 times the power of Apple TV, a dedicated graphics engine and 2 GB of RAM, which is four times the amount in the Apple TV.

While its unclear what specs the new Apple TV could sport, it’s likely it gets a significant improvement over the currently used A5 chip to the much more powerful A7 chip, which is used in the iPad Air and would allow developers to easily port over their best-selling iPad and iPhone games and vice versa.

Other rumored changes for the new Apple TV include a brand new interface that blends TV listings with apps and video from the web rather than a the current setup of a grid of app icons. Amazon’s Fire TV does something similar according to a hands-on report by The Verge, displaying various movies and TV shows next to apps and games when the device is turned on.

In addition, Apple has been rumored to want to include some sort of Siri-like voice control to allow users to easily navigate through the interface without a remote control. While Roku already had voice control on their media streaming box, Amazon has included voice control “that just works” on its Fire TV remote control, allowing users to bypass typing for voice searches.

However, the largest difference between the new Apple TV and Fire TV could be content. While Amazon says its streaming device is “open” and has an app store, Apple has been long rumored to also include an App Store to allow for a greater variety and quicker access to more “channels” than ever before. While that would put the two boxes at parity, Apple has also been rumored to be discussing a possible partnership with Comcast for a streaming TV service on the new Apple TV, allowing users to switch between live TV via Comcast, a Hulu-like on-demand video service and third-party apps like HBO Go, YouTube and Netflix.

Apple has been rumored to be launching their new Apple TV as early as April.

Jailbreak Tweak Auxo 2 Brings Unified Control Center, Gesture-Based Multitasking to iOS [iOS Blog]

Auxo 2, the follow up to 2012’s popular jailbreak tweak Auxo, is now available in the Cydia Store. The product of developers @Sentry_NC and QusicS, the new tweak includes a number of features including a unified view for the Control Center and app switcher, a Quick Switcher for moving between apps using gestures, a hot corners feature that allows access to apps by touching the corners of an iOS device, and more.

Unlike the stock iOS 7 experience, Auxo 2 allows users to access the app switcher, multitasking controls, and Control Center toggles entirely with the use of gestures, all while combining all three elements into one interface and offering a variety of settings for customization.

Auxo 2’s flagship feature is the Quick Switcher, which allows users to switch between apps by swiping from the bottom left of a device and releasing a finger on an open app. By default, the Quick Switcher is limited to six apps, but users may enable an unlimited amount of apps in the settings. The Quick Switcher features a fluid animation in line with the rest of iOS 7, and features dynamic full screen previews for each app.

Meanwhile, Auxo 2′s Multi-Center feature combines iOS 7′s toggles, App Switcher, and media controls into one interface. In order to achieve the sheer number of controls located within Multi-Center, Auxo 2 locates a few elements in different places, with the AirPlay/AirDrop buttons and control toggles at the top, which is followed by media controls at the bottom. Multi-Center animates in and out of an open app, and contains various customization settings.

Auxo 2 also offers a Hot Corners feature, which allows users to return to the home screen by swiping up from the bottom right corner of the screen or access the app switcher from swiping up from the bottom left of the display. This enables users to access both UI elements with only gestures as opposed to using the home button.

Among other features, Auxo 2 allows the user to scrub through iTunes Radio tracks with its media controls, something that is not possible with the stock Music app. Other toggles for turning off elements, accessing the last open app, inverting the Hot Corners feature, and disabling the tweak in selected apps are available as well.

Auxo 2 is out now on the Cydia Store for $3.99, and is available at a discounted price of $1.99 for users who bought the original Auxo tweak. iDownloadBlog also has a detailed review of Auxo 2 covering all of its major features and customization options, and can be seen in the video below.