Techno Babble

Ever since I first explored the use of Pico Projectors, I’ve mentioned that it was only a question of time before Apple looked to incorporate the technology into their iOS devices, and here is a patent application from Apple which goes some way to proving that theory.

United States patent application US 2011/0197147 was originally filed in Feb 2010 and is called Projected Display Shared Workspaces.

Generally, the patent talks about how 2 or more projected displays, each from a separate device, could be displayed adjacent to one another to produce a shared workspace. Images displayed on one of the projected displays may be copied or transferred  to another projected display within the shared workspace.

Each  device may also contain a cameras that can be used to detect gestures on its projected display so that a user can transfer images between displays using simple gestures.

Devices that could be used include any type of electronic device capable of displaying projected images and recognizing gestures through a camera.

Suitable devices which are specifically mentioned as examples  include an iPod,  iPhone and MacBook.

Also mentioned is the important realisation that whereas a single camera can be used to determine movement in x and y spatial directions relative to the projected display plane – 2 or more cameras may operate in conjunction with one another to detect the spatial z direction .

One or more communication interfaces will provide channels that allow the devices to share information and control settings for the shared workspace.

Other related topics are discussed in more detail in the patent (see link above).

Now, I believe, it’s only a question of time before some of these features start appearing  in the market.

If you want to accurately model an iPod, then you need precise dimensional drawings

Last update 17 November 2011 – dimensional drawings for iPods, iPhones and iPads are available from the Apple Developer Center at

http://developer.apple.com/resources/cases/

An extract from its wikipedia entry: Podcasting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting

“Podcasting” is a web-based broadcast medium. Audio files (most commonly in MP3 format) are made available online in a way that allows software to automatically detect the availability of new files (generally via RSS), and download the files for listening at the user’s convenience.

The word “podcasting” is a portmanteau of the words iPod and broadcasting. A podcast is like an audio magazine subscription: a subscriber receives regular audio programs delivered via the internet, and can listen to them at their leisure.

Podcasts differ from traditional internet audio in two important ways. In the past, listeners have had to either tune in to web radio on a schedule, or they have had to search for and download individual files from webpages. Podcasts are much easier to get. They can be listened to at any time because a copy is on the listener’s computer or portable music player (hence the “pod” in “podcasting”), and they are automatically delivered to subscribers, so no active downloading is required.

Any use? Don’t know, I’ll give it a try … currently have a couple, Microsoft News and Apple news from techpodcasts.com

http://www.techpodcasts.com/…/catid,5/Itemid,33/

and using iPodder …

http://ipodder.sourceforge.net/index.php

the premier Podcasting application, allowing users to capture and listen to Internet audio programs anytime, anywhere

Podsites- a website for your iPod, or rather a collection of text files and links to other files, including sound and image files, all accessible from your iPod

Read all about it here http://www.podsites.com/

So what else can you do on an iPod ?