Apple’s new patents hint at plans to add public transit Commute App to Apple Maps

The current Apple Maps app doesn’t have the public transit info incorporated into it. Public transit commuters get no help from Apple Maps when they want to travel by bus, train or other public transport. Now it looks like Apple wants to add this feature to its Maps app as a couple of new patents filed by Apple with the US Patent and Trademark Office reveal.

Since long, there have been rumors that Apple would add the public transit feature to its Apple Maps in its iOS but it didn’t happen in iOS 6. However, a programming interface was added to iOS 6 through which 3rd party apps could link into Apple Maps to provide transit directions to commuters. Even the iOS 8 didn’t get this feature, maybe because it was not ready by then.

Now, as the individual app cannot be updated singly, the public transit commuters will have to wait till the next iOS i.e. the iOS 9 is out. Apple’s new patents published by the US Patent office are titled “User Interface Tools for Commute Assistant” and “Location-Based Features for Commute Assistant”. These patents reveal that Apple is developing a “Commute Application” that provides different travel routes, scheduled stops, arrival/departure times, current statuses, automatic updates, the ability to select a route and much more.

The app will guide a user to go from one place to another using public transportation. A user will be able to save the routes he chooses, to his smartphone and get alerts for delays. He will also be able to find the transit lines located nearby.

Apple has already acquired several mapping and navigating companies such as HopStop, BroadMap, Locationary, Emabark etc. and this will certainly help the company. Google Maps is offering such a feature since long. The Apple patents don’t mention specifically that the Commute App is for Apple Maps but it is expected that this new app will go into the Apple Maps and such a move will definitely help the commuters who use public transportation.

 

Via PhoneArena, tom’sGUIDE

Apple’s new patents hint at plans to add public transit Commute App to Apple Maps

Apple develops mechanism for taking super-resolution images using OIS

There is news that Apple has developed a mechanism for creation of super-resolution images with the help of an image capturing device. The US Patent & Trademark Office has published patent application number 20140125825 filed by Apple Inc. for “Super-Resolution Based on Optical Image Stabilization”.

The method described in the patent states that an initial optical image is captured by an electronic image sensor through an optical path which is then adjusted slightly by the optical image stabilization (OIS) processor. Then a second optical image is taken through the adjusted optical path. The second image is offset from the first image very slightly with a difference of a sub-pixel only.  The OIS processor continues this process and a series of optical images are captured, each with small sub-pixel offset. All these images are then combined together to produce a super-resolution image. The shift in optical path is caused by the actuators which tilt the camera module slightly from the pivot point every time.

Apple might be thinking of using this new technology in its future devices such as iPhones. The new device will need an image capturing system with an OIS mechanism. When a photo is taken with a camera by the user, there is usually some movement and the image gets somewhat distorted. The OIS system compensates for this movement and stabilizes the picture before it is converted into digital form. The super resolution engine uses various algorithms and performs some added operations such as anti-aliasing, gamma correction, white-point correction and some color processing if needed to create a super-resolution image.

In the actual device, there might be a basic camera application with an option for super-resolution imaging that can be exercised by pressing a button. The patent image figure 8 below shows this option button.

 

The patent application published by the US Patent & Trademark Office on May 8, 2014 shows that it was filed with them on November8, 2012. It lists Baer Richard L and Thivent Damien J as its inventors. It is possible that Apple might integrate this super-resolution imaging with the upcoming iPhone 6 or perhaps with its successor.

Apple develops mechanism for taking super-resolution images using OIS