Custom Home Screens Based Upon User Location

A recent patent filing made by Apple suggests that the iPhone could provide a customized home screen depending on the current user location.

The filing was revealed by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office this week. The filing was dated February 21st 2008 for “Transitional Data Set”, it describes an invention that would display specific applications populated based on dynamic factors such as location.

“The user can create a set of location-aware applications that can be populated by transitional data sets,” the filing reads. “A transitional data set is a data set that can change based on the current location of the mobile device… as determined by a positioning technology (e.g., GPS, cell tower triangulation, Wi-Fi).”

“If the user’s home is in New York, then the user may configure a “weather” widget to display the weather in New York as a default,” the filing reads, “and such default information can be persistent. If the user travels to San Francisco, the user can touch the “Here” button… and the “weather” widget will automatically display the weather for San Francisco… Thus each time the user travels to San Francisco, the location-aware mobile device… can automatically populate the “weather widget with transitional data associated with San Francisco.”

iPod Classic (7th Generation) To Get Camera?

As the rumors of the upcoming camera equipped model continue to appear, a recent report by Digitimes claims that Omnivision, one of the suppliers for the CMOS sensors in the iPhone 3GS, will be supplying new 3.2 megapixel CMOS image sensors for the new iPod line-up as well.

This seems to validate prior rumors of the a camera equipped iPod Touch and iPod Nano.

Quote:

OmniVision will be the sole supplier of 3.2-megapixel CIS products for new iPod nano, iPod classic and iPod Touch models which will be launched in September, the sources indicated.

This rumor seems quite legitimate as we’ve seen photos and even video of the iPod Touch with a camera.

iPhone 3GS Capable Of HD (720p/1080i) Video

In April it was rumoured that the iPhone 3GS would be able to play 720p and 1080i HD video via the Apple AV Cables. When the device was finally released it was found that the video still played like its predecessors only supporting SD 2.5Mbps MPEG 4 or H264 video. But this turned out to a set limit by Apple, possibly to save the battery life of the device or to keep the old iPhone videos working on the new 3GS model.

A user of the Chinese website WeiPhone did a lot of testing with the iPhone 3GS and they discovered that it can in fact smoothly play HD video at 30Mbps at a 1080i (1980×1080) resolution. This was achieved by uploading various HD movies to the iPhone 3GS using the program FileAid and then running them via the iPhones built-in video player.

Playing back HD video on a iPhone is very useful on the small screen and the battery usage would drain a lot quicker. However is you used Apple’s Component AV Cables and it would be possible to run HD video from the iPhone.

Apple Patent Details File-Transfer in Call

Apple has a new patent titled “Auto Messaging to Currently Connected Caller.” This patent focuses around the idea of sending documents, emails, text messagess, files, etc. to the person who you are calling.

Quote:

While a user of a mobile device is using telephony services, the user may want to send a message or a file to another part . . . To send this information, the user may have to disconnect the call, and then perform a lookup of the caller’s contact information prior to being able to send the message or file. This multi-step process can be tedious for the user.

The data could be sent through various network types like GSM, GPRS, Edge, Wi-Fi, WiMax and Bluetooth. Apple’s interface would provide users with a way to access all the file sharing features while on call the system would be capable to directing the various types of data correctly all at once.

Apple is doing a lot of looking into file sharing technology for it mobiles. A similar patent that AppleInsider discovered in June details how an iPhone could share media like music, video, podcasts, images, voice mails with other iPhone users.

Apple Tablet (iPAD) Outed in Borders Survey?

An online survey from the Borders Bookstore a reference to the Apple iPAD, this presumably being the tablet device which if in fact is used as a book reader could challenge the Kindle.

If what is shown is in fact true then the Apple iPAD must be released this year to fit in with the reference from the survey. This further backs up the fact that an Apple Tablet is imminent.

Apple Tablet (iPAD) Pictures Leaked

Yet more pictures of Apple’s rumoured tablet have appear online, once again they look quite convincing but you can never really tell these days. But using video as they did to try and prove the new 3rd generation iPod Touch is a good way to prove it.

The second picture shows a phone to show both the size comparison and to try and prove its authenticity. It certainly fits the idea of an Apple tablet, with only one button, but we will have to see what else appears.

Is This The 3rd Gen iPod Touch?

Over the last few days multiple photographs, some fake and some real, along with video footage appear to show what can only be described as the 3rd generation iPod Touch device. If the images are in fact real, which some have been proven not to be, then the new iPod Touch will have an in-built camera as previously rumored. If this is true then it’s taking away even more from the differences between the iPod Touch and iPhone.

As we know from the iPhone Video or iPhone Video iChat rumors, we know that they can easily be faked and some images were done very convincingly so take all pictures with a pinch of salt.

But if you don’t believe the photos that have been posted then a video has been published which shows the same device with the camera. This makes it a lot more authenticated and less likely to be a fake.

Video Link

The New iPod Touch Pricing & Sizes?

The new iPod Touch rumored to be announced in September, will gain more space and better pricing, according to John Gruber.

The new equipped iPod Touches are said to be the following:

16GB – $199
32GB – $299
64GB – $399

Apple is expected to announce the new devices at a September music event.

8GB iPhone 3GS Possible Soon?

Many reports have shown that there’s a chance of a 8GB iPhone 3GS model soon. The 8GB model was found on Rogers Wireless internal sales system, however Rogers quickly said it was an error. However a few days later, the 8GB 3GS reappeared in the system.

R5 Release Dates (Aug 13th – Jan 2010)

These are the latest R5 release dates from Russia, to keep updated on the release dates on the R5 Release Date page.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – August 13th
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (Blu-Ray) – August 20th
Terminator Salvation – August 20th
The Boat That Rocked – August 25th
Aliens in the Attic – August 27th

September 2009
Year One – September 1st
All About Steve – September 3rd
Fighting – September 3rd (August 24th R1)
9 – September 6th
I Love You, Beth Cooper – September 8th
District 9 – September 10th
State of Play – September 22nd (September 1st R1)
Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey – September 29th
The Invention of Lying – September 2009

October 2009
The Hangover – October 13th (with Dolby Digital English Audio)
The Ugly Truth – October 15th
Monsters vs Aliens – October 20th
The Proposal – October 22nd
Star Trek – October 27th
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 – October 2009

November 2009
Public Enemies- November 3rd
The Vampire’s Assistant – November 3rd
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – November 3rd
Jennifer’s Body – November 5th
500 Days of Summer – November 12th
Armored – November 12th
Fantastic Mr. Fox – November 19th
Up – November 19th
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – November 19th
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – November 2009

December 2009
Four Christmases – December 1st
Terminator Salvation – December 5th (2 Disc Edition)
The Wolf Man – December 8th
2012 – December 10th
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra – December 15th
Funny People – December 22nd
The Final Destination – December 22nd
Inglourious Basterds – December 2009

Dance Flick – January 2010
Surrogates – January 2010

Note: not all dates are 100% accurate and are likely to vary, please keep checking back for updated release dates.