Patently Apple reports that Apple has been granted a series of 65 patents today. Among them is patent for a 3D Apple TV remote control that could provide users with superior pointing accuracy and speed. However, the patent was filed in… 2008. It’s called “GUI applications for use with 3D remote controller” and describes “a remote wand for controlling the operations of a media system”:

The wand may be operative to control the movement of a cursor displayed on screen by the position and orientation at which the wand is held. As the user moves the wand, the on-screen cursor may move. The user may use the wand to control a plurality of operations and applications that may be available from the media system, including for example zoom operations, a keyboard application, an image application, an illustration application, and a media application.

Patently Apple notes that “Apple’s invention gives us hope that one day they’ll finally get the Apple TV remote just right using their 3D technology using an accelerometer or gyroscope along with infrared technologies that would also provide zooming capabilities.”

In 2012, Apple won a similar patent for “a future 3D Apple TV remote.”

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Ever since Apple acquired PrimeSense, the company behind Microsoft Kinect, we have been hearing rumours of a gesture based interface for the Apple TV. A new patent filed by Apple suggests that the hands free control will not only deal with navigation, but also be available within apps and games.

The patent details a projector, which emits laser beams and a sensor, which detects the reflected rays and uses the time difference to locate your hand. The device creates a “pseudo-3D” image of the hand and detects gestures to drive the interface. An example is the cover flow menu (in the image below), which can be set into flow with just a wave.

What is interesting is that Apple has mentioned it specifically that this technology can be used as a game controller replacing joysticks.

User movements detected by means of system 20 control an interactive computer application, such as a game, in place of tactile interface elements such as a mouse, joystick or other accessory.

The patent also mentions that the target of tracking needn’t be the hand and that any object can be 3D mapped, which might be a hint to the magic wand remote which Steve Jobs dreamt of.

The Apple TV 4 is scheduled to be launched next month at the WWDC, 2015. We do not expect this gesture based navigation to make its way to it, but is surely something to look forward to in future iterations of the set top box.

Read some previous reports of the hands free control of Apple TV. And if you are interested, you can go through the patent filing here.

Read more on the Apple TV 4.

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Yeah, you heard it right. This would probably be the most bizarre rumour you’ll be hearing about the next-gen. Apple TV, but it seemed too unique to be ignored. According to one of Apple’s recent patent filings (via Cult of Mac), Cupertino is considering a HMD (Head-Mounted Display), like the recently Facebook-acquired VR gaming device, Oculus Rift.

The device, described by Apple as a Goggle System, would be “a personal display system, comprising: a frame, a display generation circuitry…, data processing circuitry.. to provide media to the display generation circuitry; and a display screen coupled to the frame and operative to display images generated by the display generation circuitry.“, says the patent. In short, it is a new kind of personal media device which will be able to stream videos on-the-go and for your eyes only.

Here are some points worth noting:

1. The device will be able to stream videos from other devices like the Apple TV, Mac or PC.
2. It may even be able to stream directly from the cloud or download content to itself.
3. As seen in some images, it can pair with your TV or iPod.
4. It can provide slightly different images for each eye, thereby giving the perception of depth and 3D imagery.
5. It can even cope with the refractory errors of user’s eye by tweaking the visuals.

The 38-page long filing only has one mention of the term “Apple TV” and that too, is in an entirely different context of streaming content via Apple TV. But Cult of Mac speculates that this could be “Apple’s revolutionary re-imagining of Apple TV”, which kept a lot of us thinking. Though the possibility of future Apple TV being a head mounted device is rare, we do look forward to what this patent holds for future generations of Apple TV.

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

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Thanks to the latest courtroom war between Apple and Samsung, a lot of private mails and documents shared between Steve Jobs and his top employees has be made public. iPhone for normal people, Samsung’s marketing strategy, and a Holy war with Google are some of the most discussed ones. But what is significant for us Apple TV lovers is this excerpt from a mail Jobs sent in 2010 regarding the Apple TV 2.

” Apple TV 2 – David Moody, Jeff Robbin
– Strategy: stay in the living room game and make a great “must have” accessory for iOS devices
– sales so far, projections for this holiday
– add content:
– NBS, CBS, Viacom, HBO, …
– TV subscription?
– where do we go from here?
– apps, browser, magic wand? “

The first two clauses are purely official and sales-related while the rest of’em sheds bright light on what Jobs wanted for Apple TV in the coming years and maybe even forms a part of what he meant when he said he’d “finally cracked the code” for the perfect television.

The next couple of suggestions has indeed been made into reality during or after Jobs’ reign. Apple has been adding channels regularly to their set top box and was said to be in talks with Time Warner for a deal too. Even speculations of a Comcast subscription-based next gen Apple TV loomed around for a bit.

The last strategy of apps and browsers is the one raising the most eyebrows now as it perfectly lines up with the latest reports on Apple TV 4. The next Apple TV is said to come with a support for games, third party apps, custom channels and even game controllers. A revamped and easy-to-use interface is also said to be in the pipeline. You can read all about the Apple TV 4 here.

Now to my favorite and the most mysterious part of the mail, the last word – the magic wand. Though we have no official confirmation on what that is, we can read it closely with some of the latest patents (pic above) registered by Apple, its acquisition of motion-detection firm PrimeSense and listen to what our gut says. The said magic wand is probably a Microsoft Kinect-like device which will enable controlling of Apple TV with a stick-remote, via simple gestures and clicks.

This sort of reminds us of one unique and interesting accessory we tried out earlier: it is called the Kymera Magic Wand Remote Control.

It pairs with your existing infrared remotes and learns the patterns for various functions, which in turn can be converted into gestures. In short, you have a magic wand which you can swish in front of your Apple TV and control it. Looking somewhat like the Elder Wand from Harry Potter, this is literally what we can make of Job’s reference. In case you’re curious, you can get the magic wand for your Apple TV here.

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

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Apple TV in 3D? Well, for now that is a no but soon we will be able to remote control our Apple TV’s in the 3^rd dimension. Apple has recently won 22 patents, as reported by Patently Apple, which covers everything from Electromagnetic Induction (battery extension for iOS devices) to a new 3D Apple TV remote technology that potentially includes a “wand”, a touch interface, as well as a gyroscope sensor. Patently Apple describes what this patent could mean to our living rooms:

Apple’s granted patent covers a media system may include an electronic device, a screen, and a wand. The user may interact with one or more media applications implemented on the electronic device using the wand. The wand may include any suitable components for providing instructions to the electronic device. For example, the wand may include a motion detection component providing outputs reflecting the movements of the wand to the electronic device.

To me, this seems remnant of an Apple TV Remote crossed with an iPod touch and a Wii-Mote. We will just have to wait and see.

This patent could add evidence to speculation that Apple is working on its own branded TV set.

Check out Patently Apple’s article for more details on the future 3D Apple TV remote.

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The technology is an off-shoot of IPS called S-IPS. It’s a technology that provides superior performance,  and color gamut with high luminosity. IPS technology is currently being used in Apple’s iMac – which stems from this patent… Embodiments of Apple’s granted patent and invention provide for a FFS TFT LCD with a high refresh rate without limiting the aperture of individual pixels. More specifically, embodiments of the invention provide for the use of common bus lines to reduce the effective resistance of the common electrode and to therefore allow for higher refresh rates of the display.

Essentially, this patent speaks to an expansion of a high refresh rate LCD technology known as FFS, or fringe field switching.  This is encouraging information for two reasons. Firstly, FSS technologies have typically been unable to function on large displays… limiting its functionality to iMac, or smaller, displays. Fortunately for us there were multiple mentions of this new advancement being usable in a TV.  The guys over at Patently Apple made mention of  one of the more interesting revelations made in this filing:

The present invention can be implemented as flat screen television set 700 with display 701… Embodiments of the invention may allow the above-referenced devices to provide a clear and bright display with a relatively high resolution, high refresh rate and a wide viewing angle.

So, what does all this mean? Well for those of us here at Apple TV Hacks… it means it seems like it is okay to start getting excited. We of course LOVE our Apple TV Boxes but look forward to what Apple may have in-store for us next.

Back in January Globe and Mail reported that Canada’s largest telecommunications companies – Rogers and Bell – were in talks with Apple to become Canadian launch partners for its Apple HDTV. Another source said Rogers and Bell already had the product in their labs.

umOuch (Andrew Brasher)

You may also want to read:
Apple patent reveals advanced TV remote
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The post Yet Another Patent Hints at Apple Preparing a Standalone HDTV appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

Hot on the heels of Apple’s latest announcement introducing the iPad 3 to the world people quickly forgot all about the new Apple HDTV hype. Prior to the announcement, if you’ll recall, there was great speculation as to what Apple would be announcing regarding its Apple TV line. It had been speculated that what Steve Jobs once mentioned as a hobby of Apple’s would soon become one of its next “big things”. Needless to say, we were all more than a little disappointed to learn that they not only weren’t releasing a new HDTV, but they were merely rolling out a “newish” Apple TV 3 packed into the same little black box.

It seemed all hope was lost until we discovered one of the latest patents filings from our favorite Cupertino giant. Patently Apple has released the specs and images from Apples filings for an Advanced TV Remote. One of the more noteworthy features of this remote is its ability to use a camera, iCloud, and Apples Servers to learn your current remote. Buried in the filing is an explanation on how Apple’s new remote will let you:

Simply take a photo of your current TV remote and it sends it up to iCloud for analysis. It then sends a “virtual copy” of your remote, functionality and all, to your iPhone. You’re now able to control your current TV with Apple’s advanced universal remote and enjoy all of Apple’s TV remote features and likely tie-in products and services.

If this is a sign of things to come… we may be satisfied yet. After all Tim Cook did claim that we should keep on the lookout for the things to come in 2012!

Read the detailed description of the new Apple patent on Patantly Apple.

umOuch (Andrew Brasher)

You may also want to read:
AirServer 4.2 released, optimized for iPad 3
aTV Flash (black) 1.4 for Apple TV 2 released
Munster: Apple TV set will be the biggest thing in consumer electronics since the smartphone

The post Apple patent reveals advanced TV remote appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

That would involve distributing them to the device through the iTunes App Store, as is currently the case for the iPhone.

In January, it was suggested that NVIDIA’s Ion platform is likely to be included in the next Apple TV.

Among the uses proposed by Apple for the wand are zoom operations, a keyboard application, an image application, an illustration application and a media application.

Other possiblities for the wand include it being used to call up a dock, and then to select an option from the menu by moving the wand across the screen.

The controller could also scroll through a CoverFlow display and be used to manipulate photos by zooming in and out and rotating.

Source: HTDV.biz-news.com

It will be interesting to see how it develops, and if this will finally move apple to invest more in the platform.

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