Apple is continuing to explore ways to improve cars and other vehicles, possibly as part of Project Titan, as the iPhone producer has come up with ways to refine power transfer systems used in electric vehicles to run low-power equipment.
Apple is continuing to come up with ways to secure its devices while still making it as easy as possible to use, with one concept involving unlocking an iPhone or iPad and performing a Siri request, but only if the voice it hears matches that of its owner.
Apple is seemingly attempting to combat the problem of phone scammers and other types of nuisance callers, by coming up with a method to detect if the inbound call is using a spoofed number and warning the recipient before they answer.
Apple is considering ways it could use electromagnets to make changes to the way accessories or devices can magnetically connect to each other, including correcting alignment issues for covers and potentially helping a case provide even more protection for a dropped iPhone or iPad.
Apple is looking into ways to use ultrasonic-based technology to perform touch sensing, including creating new layers for touch screens and potential changes to the Apple Pencil to include ultrasonic transducers for more accurate movement detection.
Apple is examining ways to improve the listening experience when using earphones, including automatically adjusting the audio based on a user's ear shape in over-ear headphones, and even automatically switching channels between the left and right ear cups if the headphones are worn the wrong way around.
Apple is working on improving the capabilities of computer vision to make it detect and identify subjects more accurately, such as in situations where both the camera and the subject are in motion, with one method suggesting the use of thermal imaging to help determine what elements in view need to be tracked.
Apple is still considering ways to make the iPhone and iPad work more closely with MacBooks, including a system where an iOS device is inserted into a MacBook shell as a display or as a replacement trackpad with a screen.
Apple has come up with a way to allow a self-driving car to communicate much more than lane changing information to other drivers of maneuvers it intends to perform, with the advance warning likely to reduce the possibility of accidents involving both driven and autonomous vehicles.
Apple is contemplating ways 360-degree video content for VR headsets could be improved, by coming up with a method for stitching together multi-directional image data from videos to make the appear with less distortion than current stitching apps and encoders can produce.
Apple wants iPhone owners to be able to use their mobile devices as alternatives to a keyless entry system for their car, with a proposal that would let users unlock and start a vehicle simply by bringing their mobile device with them to the driving seat.
Home entertainment devices like the HomePod could be improved by analyzing the local environment and a user's actions, an Apple concept suggests, with monitoring of a room potentially able to improve gesture-based control of audio, as well as contextual responses like turning down the volume if the room is empty.
Apple is considering ways to allow Siri to provide personalized results for specific users speaking to it, by making the digital assistant recognize the user's identity, with the added possibility of limiting queries to just one user's voice.
Apple has considered the possibility of using the iPhone as a form of identification for the user, with one proposed onboard secure storage system using RFID having the potential to use a smartphone as an alternative to a passport for travelers at ports.
Apple is continuing to look into the possibility of creating an iPhone or iPad with flexible displays, including one concept where the entire display panel and the screen could be folded in multiple different ways depending on the user's wishes, without shattering or breaking.
Apple's self-driving car technology could potentially change the way it drives based on the reactions of its passengers, using monitoring sensors to analyze the vehicle's occupants and determine an appropriate driving style to suit the situation, potentially reducing the chance of a passenger panicking.
Apple has come up with one possible solution to the problem of an iPhone running out of battery while the user's on the move, by taking advantage of wireless charging to transfer power from one mobile device with a fuller battery to another.
Camera accessories that attach to an iPhone or iPad could work better in the future, as Apple is considering ways to adjust a mobile device's camera to make shots taken through the extra external lens look great.
Apple has come up with a way it thinks could provide headphone and earphone users the optimal listening experience, using a variety of signal processing techniques to make the sound seem like it is being heard without the use of headphones at all.
While Apple denies it will be launching smart glasses anytime soon, the company is seemingly still working on ways wearable devices could help its customers, including protecting them from sunburn and expanding the utility of the Apple Watch.
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Malcolm Owen
