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Hardware News Patents

Apple receives patent for solar multitouch panels, could harvest additional energy for iOS devices from sunlight

This could turn into something very, very spiffy. Per the United States Patent and Trademark Office, on Tuesday Apple a patent for an invention that integrates a touch sensor array with a solar panel, allowing for portable device to be both power-efficient and compact. Apple’s newly-granted U.S. Patent No. 8,368,654 for an “Integrated touch sensor […]

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Apple TV Hardware iPad iPad mini iPhone iPod Touch Rumor

Rumor: Apple may incorporate fingerprint sensor into iPhone “Home” button for next-gen models

This could be interesting. Per AppleInsider, Apple is expected to launch a new iPhone this year with a fingerprint sensor hidden beneath the home button — an intuitive design that could be difficult for competing Android and Windows Phone devices to copy. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities expects Apple’s acquisition of AuthenTec to pay […]

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Apple TV Hardware iPad iPad mini MacBook Pro Rumor

Rumor: Apple to release all-Retina iPad, MacBook Pro lineups in 2013

Even though it’s a rumor, there’s got to be a nugget of truth in there somewhere. Per AppleInsider, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities has made his Apple hardware predictions for the upcoming year, and expects a bevy of new iOS and Mac product releases will help the iPhone maker address a wider swath of […]

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Hardware News

Apple buys fingerprint recognition company AuthenTec for $356 million

This could turn into something interesting. Per Reuters, Apple has signed a deal to buy a Florida-based company, AuthenTec, at a price of US$8 per share or about US$356 million. That’s a premium of 58 percent over AuthenTec’s Thursday closing value. While largely unknown to the public, the firm makes fingerprint sensor chips used in […]

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iPhone News Patents

Apple patent describes using 3D interface for iPhone

This could definitely qualify as “nifty”. Per AppleInsider, an Apple patent filing submitted in July of 2010 and made public this week by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), details a new iPhone interface concept in which the user relies on motion controls to interact with a 3D environment. However, this is not 3D […]