Keeping its tradition of being the pioneers Apple is reported to have filed a patent with U.S Patent and Trademark office that gives evidence about its new venture in the field of iOS interface. It is going to be the only and revolutionary of its kind along with a social networking application for iOS for whom a patent request has also been filed with the former.
The interface is being called as “Persistent Overlay” which summaries a new way of managing data as in webpages, music and images. To manage the data on a systematic level, the interface builds upon and expands the elements after taking them up from Notification Centre and multitasking bar. Seems like a preview of the version 6 of iOS.
Though we aren’t still sure about the future this patent has to witness but as far as Apple is concerned, it seems as if they have planned some serious modifications for their Mobile OS.
Some of the features of the patent are worth sharing here:
Persistent Overlay being the most notable part of the patent can be thought of a multitasking bar for personal data like photos, music and other documents. This part basically deals with the revolutionary idea of managing data on mobile and isn’t still put into words as Apple has not literally created it yet.
Gestures are the main focus of the Persistent Overlay, as with other Apple iOS. It would enable a user to drag the interface and pull it down and tear off a webpage (or photo and like things) form the Mobile Safari. That torn off thing could then be saved into the new interface by dragging it into the latter as one navigates through the iOS. The patent also tells about the presence of a “digital locker” which is triggered by digital gestures and stays present in the iOS for all the times.
Patently Apple further tells that the new interface can take up any from textual, graphical and video to audio as well. It can also be made translucent or semitransparent so that it remains in view yet not hindering any other processes.
This new interface addresses the problem of the difficulty in data management in movement in an app based OS on a small mobile phone. The problem is reconciled by the Persistent Overlay as it would offer to temporarily hold data such photos, music, documents and videos etc. on it like a platter as the user navigates through the iOS.
The filing says the Persistent Overlays has more to offer than just being a platter. It also enables to augment additional information with the data stored on it, and that too in a medium like sound or video. For instance; you snap a picture of some memorable event and add it to the new interface, the persistent overlays allows you to ass an audio comment which will automatically be knotted into the Photo’s meta data.
Multiple persistent screens can also be made which can hold data temporarily of dragged on to the edges of the devices’ screen. A magical mouse and track pad facility would be available to use with a docked iPad and Persistent Overlay.
The social networking app as described in the introductory para works on the lines of Bump into the app store. It shares contact information of a user with someone else by using the Meta data associated with the photo of a user. It will enable user to share their photos faster without passing through the time consuming authentication steps.
Hope this patent proves to be a Glimpse of what Apple has to offer in their highly awaited iOS 6 and its subsequent versions in terms of interfaces.
