Were you as glad as I was with the announcements of the new MacBook Pros yesterday? It's not that I'm in the market for a new laptop; it's just that I'm glad to see some love for what I maintain is still Apple's most important product line: the Mac.

A lot of pundits see the iPad as more evidence of Apple's plan to move to a "post personal computer world." I don't think that such a world is coming because: a) the iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, etc., are actually offshoots of the personal computer, even running a variant of Mac OS X, and b) none of those devices can replace a full fledged personal computer for many tasks.

That said, I do believe that iPad-like devices will replace some computers (mainly netbooks and entry-level laptops, to some extend). But those devices will still be spokes in a digital hub. The center of that digital hub will be the personal computer. And the personal computer occupying that center spot will increasingly be the Mac.

In 2008,...

Several Apple patents have popped up at the US Patent & Trademark Office. Here's a summary of each.

Patent number 7,697,283 is for an enclosure foot assembly and manufacture. Wall portions, such as wall portions of electronic device housing components, are provided with one or more foot assemblies. A foot assembly can be formed by creating an internal cavity in an internal surface of the wall portion, an external cavity in an external surface of the wall portion, and a hollow passageway extending through the wall portion and between the cavities. The foot assembly can be completed by inserting a foot at least partially through the external cavity and hollow passageway and into the internal cavity, such that an external portion of the foot is at least partially contained within and contacting the surfaces of the external cavity, and such that an internal portion of the foot is at least partially contained within the internal cavity. A portion of the foot...

f Apple really wants to sell an additional boatload (or a thousand boatloads) of iPhones, it should be eyeing China -- and TD-SCDMA.

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics (http://www.strategyanalytics.com), China’s 3G TD-SCDMA handset shipments will grow 600% during 2010. Yep, 600%. With the backing of the world’s largest mobile operator, China Mobile, TD-SCDMA will be one of the fastest growing mobile technologies in the world, making China an important 3G market.

Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics, says the surging volumes of TD-SCDMA handsets will mean no major phone maker can afford to ignore China. "If Apple eventually chooses to launch a TD-SCDMA version of its iPhone, then we believe this would ignite the market and provide considerable upside for Apple in China," he adds.

Of course, this would take some work on Apple's part in conjunction...

Touchscreen desktops and laptops won't be the norm for several years, but I think Apple will, not surprisingly, be head of the curve.

In fact, I think by late 2011, if not before, we'll see Macs with touchscreens running an operating system that merges features of the iPhone OS and Mac OS X. Apple is already prepping us for this with multi-touch on its laptops and the multi-touch features of the Magic Mouse.

Touchscreen Macs will first gain ground among young end users, move onto small and home business owners, then -- dare we hope? -- the enterprise. Research from the Gartner research group backs this up.

"What we're going to see is the younger generation beginning to use touchscreen computers ahead of enterprises," says Leslie Fiering, research vice president at Gartner. "By 2015, we expect more than 50 % of PCs purchased for users under the age of 15 will have touchscreens, up from fewer than 2% in 2009. On the other hand, we are predicting that fewer than...

I find it hard to believe that Apple is planning a mini tower desktop with the iMac being such a raging success, but a new Apple patent (20100088450) at least hints at the possibility. The patent is for a component retention mechanism and could also reflect an upcoming revision of the Mac Pro, though the wording makes that seem unlikely.

Apple says the invention relates generally to "personal computing devices" (which would seem to differentiate the computer in question from the pro-oriented Mac Pro workstation) and more particularly to the facilitation of increased modularity with respect to various components of such personal computing devices. According to the patent, a component retention mechanism facilitates improved installation, retention and removal of hardware components (e.g., PCI cards) on a personal computer. The retention mechanism includes a locking component, support member, and release mechanism coupled to each other. The locking component can be a steel...

Take this one with a grain of salt, but "DigiTimes" (http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20100407PD226.html) says Apple is reportedly scheduling a smaller 5- to 7-inch version of the iPad that is expected to launch as soon as the first quarter of 2011, according to research senior analyst Mingchi Kuo.

Kuo, citing talks with upstream component sources, said Apple's smaller-size iPad will be priced below US$400 and will target the highly-portable mobile device market and consumers that focus mainly on reading and do not have a high demand for text input. He may be right, but that seems counter-productive to me, giving the various uses of the iPad.

We've got our Macs, iPhones, iPods and, now, our iPads. That's all well and good, but we still have to be careful or we lose our ability to communicate. Admittedly, that sounds like a contradiction.

However, a new report was published this week by high tech entertainment firm Bowen Research, which has studied high technology products since 1992.  The study, "Fragmentation of the Modern Mind" (http://www.fragmentationofthemodernmind.com), revealed that American’s are slowly losing the ability to communicate and connect with each other -- and technology seems to be the main cause. Among the key findings of the study:

° 42% of people think others are talking faster compared to recent years.

° 49% think other people interrupt more in conversation, compared to recent years.

° 68% think we are more rude.

° 60% think we are less kindly.

As you've doubtless observed, the iPad is getting a TON of coverage. Here's a few of the interesting iPad quips I've come across.

"There has only been one iPad ad shown (during the Superbowl) and the amount of free advertising this thing is getting is nothing short of amazing.  Wherever you go and whatever you read has coverage of the device. "

“I’ve never seen people come downstairs so fast. I don’t even ring the bell and they’re at the door.” -- a UPS driver on the Saturday morning iPad deliveries he’s been making.
 
"Remember, this is a two-part launch. There are many like myself waiting for the 3G models to arrive. I’m sticking with my 10-15 million sales in its first year. The viral marketing on this device is off the charts."

Also, I was asking a friend who received his by UPS yesterday what his favorite feature was. He responded: “not sure what the best thing is, but going back to use the iPhone becomes depressing.” When I suggested that the...

Think there are lots of computer modems and routers now? Think again as that number is going to explode in the next four years.

According to a study by ABI Research (http://www.abiresearch.com), mobile data traffic from personal computer modems and routers will increase fourfold between 2010 and 2014. This year some 2,000 petabytes of data will be sent and received, a figure that will rise to about 8,000 petabytes in 2014. The regional distribution of this traffic demand highlights global economic trends as well.

“Today, and for most of our forecast period, modems and routers in Western Europe will generate the highest levels of mobile data traffic, but by an ever-decreasing margin," says Jeff Orr, senior analyst, Mobile Devices, comments. "In 2014, we expect the Asia-Pacific region to overtake Western Europe as the largest source of demand for this traffic.”

The largest contribution...

I'm a bad person, I admit it. I'm going to visit Mom this Easter weekend. But there's a part of me that wants to stay in town, pick up my iPad (which I pre-ordered) at the local Apple Store, and play with it.

Evidently, I'm not the only want wishing to spend Easter with an iPad. Although predictions of early sales are all over the place, I suspect the number of units shipped will exceed expectations.

One techie says the obvious interest in the iPad shows the growth of the tablet market.
Mark Holleran, president of Xplore Technologies (http://www.xploretech.com), which makes tablet PCs, sees the launch of Apple’s iPad as an indication that the tablet PC industry is poised for wider acceptance and accelerated growth.

“With Apple and other consumer PC companies embracing the tablet format, I think the potential demand for a full-size mobile computer, with more interactive...

Seventeen Apple patents have appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. Here's a summary of each.

Patent number 20100083383 is for a phishing shield. According to the patent, a mechanism for notifying a user of an internet browser that a requested web page is undesirable, and for protecting the user from the web page by disabling it. An internet browser detects a load request for a web page and retrieves the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for the webpage. The internet browser displays the webpage associated with the URL and, upon determination that the URL matches a URL from a list of undesirable URLs, alters the appearance of the webpage and disables the web page from receiving input or taking action. The inventors are Darin B. Adler and Kevin Decker.

Patent number 20100083158 involves a feed for enhanced web browsing. Via the patent, user input is received to create a bookmark in a web browser for a non-feed Uniform Resource...

An upcoming version of Safari may show multiple Internet pages in a new way, as evidenced by an Apple patent (number 2010083179) at the US Patent & Trademark Office. The patent is for a visual presentation of multiple Internet pages.

The patent expresses a novel method for graphically organizing and displaying multiple pages of internet content based on how the page was accessed. Pages are determined to be indirectly accessed if they were accessed via a hypertext link or a trail of hypertext links. Pages are determined to be directly accessed if accessed via other means, such as a bookmark or via Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

Page groupings are created for each directly accessed page, and each indirectly accessed page is categorized into a grouping associated with a directly accessed page containing a link through which the indirectly accessed page was accessed. The web pages are presented to the user in an interface that is a graphical representation of the...

A new patent (number 20010081505) at the US Patent & Trademark Office indicates that Apple is planning gaming accessories. The patent is for circuits, methods, and apparatus that provide user interfaces for playing games on portable electronic devices.

One example provides a game accessory having input controls for playing video, audio, and other types of games. The game accessory can have input controls, such as buttons, joysticks, and D-pads. Another example provides a game accessory having a thumb pad or keyboard. Other possible features include microphones, cameras and camera lenses, speakers, a second screen, rumble, and motion detection.

The game accessory may have a recess sized to fit the portable electronic device. Inserts or removable adapters can be used to fit portable electronic devices having different sizes. The portable electronic device can be held in the accessory using sliding covers, clips, or other engaging members. In other examples, the...

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told clients he thinks there's a 70% chance that Apple will develop its own search engine within five years.

“We believe the company needs to develop its own search technology to protect the data generated on the iPhone,” he writes. “We believe Apple could utilize data unavailable from ,Google, data generated by the company’s App Store, to create a mobile centric search engine.”

According to "Barron's" ("http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2010/03/30/apple-when-will-they-build-their-own-mobile-search-engine/) Munster figures the company could start by making a minor acquisition of a search startup like Cuil, and then use the index as the base for building its own search engine. The Sellers Research Firm (that's me) is dubious that this will happen.

-- Dennis Sellers

Nine Apple patents have appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. Here's a summary of each.

Patent number 7,689,920 is for a parental control graphical user interface. Improved graphical user interfaces suitable for restricting the availability of media items and/or podcasts are also disclosed. The graphical user interfaces are particularly useful for a system that provides purchase and distribution of media in a client-server environment. The inventors are Jeffrey L. Robbin, David Heller and Jeff Miller.

Patent number 7,688,316 is for an adaptive method for acquiring color measurements. It's for a system and method for measuring a color parameter values of a display for calibration purposes. An initial measurement of the color parameter value from the display is performed. Next, a number of additional measurements is determined in response to the value of the initial color parameter value. The color parameter value of the...

With the iPad looming, folks are going to be using more electronic devices than ever. And the US Patent & Trademark Office has granted a patent (number 7,689,920) for a method of synchronizing three or more electronic devices and a computer system for implementing that method.

In one exemplary method of synchronizing three or more electronic devices, said method comprises: a) selecting at least one category of record for synchronization; b) storing an original value and a changed value of each changed record from a selected record category; c) establishing an electronic connection between at least two devices; d) comparing the records of the selected record categories; e) determining any changed record; f) identifying the updated device with the changed record having an original value the same as the value of the record in the other previous device; and g) changing the value of the record in the previous device to the changed value. The inventors are Jean-Marie Hullot,...

Apple has won patents related to the iPhone/iPod touch/iPad and podcasting from the US Patent & Trademark Office.

Patent number 7,688,306 is for methods and apparatuses for operating a portable device based on an accelerometer. According to one embodiment of the invention, an accelerometer attached to a portable device detects a movement of the portable device. In response, a machine executable code is executed within the portable device to perform one or more predetermined user configurable operations. Other methods and apparatuses are also described. The inventors are Paul J. Wehrenberg, Aaron Leiba, Richard C. Williams, David R. Falkenburg, Louis G. Gerbarg and Ray L. Chang.

Patent number 7,686,215 is for techniques and systems for supporting podcasting. Improved podcasts and techniques that facilitate their use are disclosed. The improved techniques can pertain to creating, publishing, hosting, accessing, subscribing, managing...

With the launch of the Apple App Store in mid-2008, Apple managed to reinvent the smartphone application market, creating an end-to-end solution (iPhone/iPod touch, iTunes Store and applications) that dramatically improved the customer experience of application discovery, download and usage.

Since 2007, the smartphone application market has grown annually by 140%, reaching a value of US$1.94 billion (2009). However, the market is still in its early stages. The top five application stores represent 96% of the market's downloads, with Apple alone responsible for 77% of total downloads.

Independent applications stores like GetJar, Mobango, Handmark and Handango sold smartphone applications and other mobile content long before the Apple App Store's launch. These stores benefitted from Apple's boost to the market with quickly growing download numbers. In 2009, independent stores held a market share of 25%, but are increasingly threatened by the large number of new...

It sounds as if there's a potential market to be taped by Apple: Central and Eastern Europe, where the number of personal computers is expected to grow significantly over the next four years.

Uptake of fixed and mobile broadband services will grow at a compound annual rate of 20% in the regions through 2014 as governments roll out more aggressive Internet connectivity policies in the wake of new guidelines covering expansion of telecom services, according to a new report from Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com), according to a new report from the author.

Last November, the EU Parliament adopted a package of telecom proposals not only to strengthen the power of telecom regulators, but also to guide its member states on how to propel broadband growth via targeted investments and spectrum awards, notes Sylwia Boguszewska, analyst at Pyramid Research and author...

Future versions of Mac OS X may sport an interface with elements that offer an even more intuitive appearance to reflect the operation being performed. Patent number 20010077336 involves dynamically changing appearances for user interface elements during drag and drop operations.

The patent involves a user interface includes elements whose appearance dynamically changes in dependence upon functions associated with the elements. In the case of an icon that is the destination for a drag-and-drop operation, the image displayed for the icon changes in accordance with the object being dragged to it, to represent the task that will be performed as a result of the drag-and-drop operation. The appearance of other elements involved in drag-and-drop operations can also be varied, to reflect the task at hand. As a result, the user is provided with more intuitive feedback regarding the functions that will be performed by the computer as a result of a drag-and-drop operation. The...

A new Apple patent (number 2010073791) at the US Patent & Trademark Office shows that Apple is considering ways to offer solar-powered laptops. Or at least portables with screens backlit by the sun.

An apparatus and methods for harnessing external light to illuminate a display screen of an electronic device are provided. The display screen may be illuminated using a light harness, a reflector, a translucent surface, or any combination thereof. The light harness may be cylindrical or hexahedral. The light harness may be coupled to an external light input or a collector. The reflector may be repositioned toward or away from the display screen to reflect external light toward the display screen. The translucent surface may allow external light to pass through it to illuminate the display screen. The translucent surface may protect the rear face of the display screen, or the rear face of the display screen may itself be translucent. The inventor is Peter H. Mahowald.

Hmmm. Could femtocells be the answer to my (lack of iPhone) problems? I currently don't own an iPhone because of the crappy AT&T wireless reception at my house.

However, folks like me will soon be able to fix that for US$150, reports the Associated Press (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/No-bars-at-home-ATampT-to-apf-178848912.ht...). AT&T said Wednesday that it's rolling out femtocells that, when connected to the home's broadband modem, will pick up signals from the cell phones in the home and relay them through the Internet connection. In essence, they're small cell towers for the home.

Dallas-based AT&T is introducing the 3G MicroCell in mid-April in some markets, which haven't been announced, notes the "AP." The rest of the country will follow over the next...

Jon Peddie Research (http://www.jonpeddie.com) -- a research and consulting firm for graphics and multimedia, computer graphics -- estimates that 46% of the dollars spent in 2009 on gaming motivated computer hardware were directed toward what the firm calls the Enthusiast class. This is the top-of-the line stuff: boutique computers, high-end processors and graphics cards, SSD's, specialized gaming mice, keyboards, speakers, monitors, etc.

JPR is forecasting a shift in product mix demand as the worldwide computer gaming user base continues to increase in size. By 2013 the Enthusiast class will lose market share to the Performance and Mainstream classes from 46% to 35% of dollars spent. The good news for Enthusiast hardware producers is that this "market share shrink" occurs in an expanding market and expenditures on the Enthusiast class will grow from $9.5 billion to almost $12.5 billion in 2013, says JRP...

The mobile applications market is undergoing a rebirth thanks largely to the efforts of companies like Apple and Google who over the last 18 months converted the category from a niche market that catered mainly for mobile geeks into a mainstream proposition, according to a new report by Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com).

The research group says that modern smartphones, the increasing penetration of high-speed mobile networks and the availability of flat-rate mobile data plans have been important enablers of this market. But equally important, has been the relatively recent development of device software, service delivery infrastructure and new business models that have ushered in a new era in mobile content and services.

Every large mobile operator around the globe now either already has a mobile applications strategy, or is developing one. While important...