Apple patents systems to warn of impending dropped calls, track down your keys

As always, Apple is busy at the patent office this week, with two recently uncovered filings to make life just a little bit easier for Mr. Joe Person Man. The first of these is a system to track how far away you are from a cell tower, and to warn you via your phone when you're about to drop your call -- with similar applications for GPS and WiFi devices. The other patent is a Bluetooth-based system to track down lost objects like keys or your Bluetooth headset via the age old method of "you're getting hotter" and you're getting colder." Sure, Apple's version might have a fancy readout on the phone display, but it's the same basic principle -- no triangulation going on here. Of course, Apple patents all sorts of crazy stuff that never makes it to market, but at least these two have a semblance of possibility.

[Thanks, Mark]

[Justin @ May 29th 2008 12:32PM]

I just filed for a patent on teeth brushing, hair combing and nail clipping.

Replying to a comment I've written is copywritten beholden to myself and you are expressly forbidden to do so without explicit written permission.

The copyright office needs to be completely revamped.

[Vidit Bhargava @ May 29th 2008 1:27PM]

so are you gonna sue me??? ;)

[Eric M. @ May 29th 2008 3:10PM]

Well I copyright the copyright office so I own your copyrights!

[Gizmo @ May 29th 2008 12:41PM]

Behold the new iPhone in the pic.

[Philippe @ May 29th 2008 12:44PM]

At first, I thought they patented the cross section of a tree.

[Idlemind @ May 29th 2008 12:45PM]

i was thinking the same thing.. or they were sounding lake depths...

[chickenator @ May 29th 2008 12:52PM]

or calculating the age of tree

[roach @ May 29th 2008 12:45PM]

Hmmm...I wonder if they'll use this technology to deflect Apple hardware's constant wireless connection issues on cell towers & hubs.

[Abhishek @ May 29th 2008 12:46PM]

Lol@philippe

[Rob P @ May 29th 2008 1:12PM]

Gtfo@Lol@ comments

[Frankenstein Black @ May 29th 2008 12:47PM]

Man, patents are becoming a new form of currency. I'm sure many of us have azz loads of patentable ideas but no "old form of currency" to afford to patent and lock em down. Apple (or other) should start a "PATENT UNIVERSITY" (i.e. PU ;^) in which they would hire people (part time) and, well you get where this is going...

[chickenator @ May 29th 2008 12:52PM]

u still need money to patent your ideas though

[chezzo @ May 29th 2008 2:25PM]

hahahaha!
wait... what?

[Ian @ May 29th 2008 4:11PM]

not if they back u at the university, but then take a cut of the profits you make.

[Idlemind @ May 29th 2008 12:47PM]

I guess its nice they they would put some thought into this technology... but instead of telling me they will be dropped, what about simply making it so my calls dont get dropped at all ?

[Kizorblade @ May 29th 2008 12:57PM]

It's really simple? Oh I don't think so, otherwise it'd already be implemented.

[coffee @ May 29th 2008 2:39PM]

instead of telling me my call is about to fail, why not have a power-boost to the antenna?

Is anyone really so confused after they drop a call that they need their phone to tell them what happened?

[rickhamilton620 @ May 29th 2008 1:02PM]

Being able to find your bluetooth headset and/or keys is all well and good, but what are you gonna do if you lose the phone itself.... just sayin'

[Craig B. @ Aug 20th 2008 3:45AM]

Rick, I saw you posted a while back about having "No Profile Found", but you seem to have gotten a profile on here somehow. Can I ask how you did it? After 70 something posts (not counting my 4 'test' posts), I still can't figure it out. I've tried allowing all cookies, even the ads! What's the magic? Thanks a ton...!

[parki @ May 29th 2008 1:04PM]

Awesome idea! What should this be called? Hmm, I know... we'll call it the "iSignal Strength Indicator"! And we'll let users know how strong the signal is by drawing different sized bars on the screen, and what else, oh yeah, we'll just have to go back in time and destroy every cell phone ever made so that there isn't any prior art covering this invention. Yeah, totally new idea!

[generally @ May 29th 2008 1:09PM]

This technology, already implemented, has been available for over 5 years. How the hell can they patent it when it's already been invented, produced, and sold? This has got to be a joke...

[Chris @ May 29th 2008 1:14PM]

they can file for a patent on anything they want. there is prior art on this though, and it may or may not be rejected. our patent system is very broken, there should be a large monetary penalty when a patent is rejected for prior art, would cut down on these sorts of filings.

[digitallysick @ May 29th 2008 1:22PM]

My calls on the iphone (att) drop when switching towers, all the time

[Vidit Bhargava @ May 29th 2008 1:35PM]

dude...you need this bad

[phanbouy @ May 29th 2008 1:58PM]

could be the gun in your mouth interfering with signal

[Jagster @ May 29th 2008 2:29PM]

Well, now Apple will alert you with a beep about 1/2 second before your call drops off. That's helpful, isn't it? Why should they fix their sub-par phone, when they can just let you know your call is about to be dropped.

[Qugeist @ May 29th 2008 1:25PM]

If you look to the right of the diagram there's 2 officially leaked images of the iPhone. Na, why would they put a generic phone to demonstrate their patent instead of their iPhone... Will Apple eventually sell this to other manufacturers (if they want to purchase the rights)?

[McHoffa @ May 29th 2008 1:29PM]

WIth all the things apple seems to patent that are way out there and off course, yet the iphone patents remained under wraps (mostly) until right before it's announcement, ever wonder if they apply for random patents to keep the rumor mill running full speed as free marketing? Just an idea... They do think differently...

[doniel @ May 29th 2008 1:29PM]

excuse my ignorance. But how exactly does a bluetooth system locate lost keys?

[eddy @ May 29th 2008 1:34PM]

"You are currently using AT&T. Your call will be dropped in 3...2..."

[fourthletter @ May 29th 2008 1:39PM]

WOW How cutting edge a way to tell how much signal you have.
Oh wait like a signal bar that was cutting edge on my Motorola V50 years ago.
Do we really have to be reminded on daily basis how much of a patent troll Apple is ?

[phanbouy @ May 29th 2008 1:59PM]

floppy bull's eye FTW

[Bill @ May 29th 2008 1:59PM]

This patent makes a whole lot of sense given that U.S. iPhone users are stuck with AT&T crap service. This feature will get a LOT of use. Even though it's redundant because you can already tell when your call is going to get dropped - once the voice starts cutting out and getting garbly, it's only a matter of time my friend.

[JamesMcVeigh @ May 29th 2008 2:15PM]

AT&T's crap service as compared to, say, Sprint?

Seriously?

[Fred @ May 29th 2008 2:43PM]

People, really, really need to do some reading and learn how patents work. 'Prior art' does not mean 'anything which is vaguely related to the same concept' such as a signal bar which was laughably pointed out above or no-one would ever be able to patent anything, which is quite clearly not the intent of the patent system.

You can't seriously compare a signal strength indicator and a program that says go x ----> that way to get stronger signal as the same thing. The innovation from one to the other is clear.

[Joel Howe @ May 29th 2008 3:36PM]

Come on now...is that innovation or evolution? The idea of a patent is to reward innovation; ie. an idea most people in society would never have thought of. You don't reward ALL ideas, you reward truly revolutionary, innovative ideas. A vocal signal strength indicator is a logical extension of the visual one and doesn't deserve patent protection.

[cduran01 @ May 29th 2008 3:24PM]

This isn't very useful unless the towers are made to boost the signal right at the moment that the call is about to drop. Otherwise the warning would come right at the moment that the call drops, by then we already know what happened.

[Bill in Racine @ May 29th 2008 3:33PM]

I can see it now, all the iPhone-heads walking around talking and whenever their phone beeps, they'll change direction without missing a beat so that they don't lose signal.

'Course the fun part is going to be coming up with a device that puts out the same tone and then getting a bunch of people to walk through the crowd with an iPhone user and start beeping. Get the guy bouncing around the sidewalk - for every change of direction, you get a point - the one with the most points wins. :)

See how long you can get them jumping around the area before they notice that it's not their phone beeping.

Lose all your points if you get them to step into the street however - we don't play to win that hard!

[Ian @ May 29th 2008 4:16PM]

you my good sir win period

[Ian @ May 29th 2008 4:17PM]

that was to Bill in Racine

[drew @ May 29th 2008 4:21PM]

I consider myself an apple fanboy and even I'm getting tired of seeing "apple patents so and so" 2-3 times every single day.....

[Byrdman @ May 29th 2008 5:04PM]

Isnt At&t supposed to be the network with the fewest dropped calls? I bet they would hate to advertise a feature that basically lets the user know that their product is going to fail, and by product i mean network

[Dale @ May 29th 2008 5:39PM]

I was thinking of submitting a patent for a new spinal column to the Patent Office.

Then I could give myself a pat on the back for a pat. on the back.

[Dan @ May 30th 2008 11:28AM]

Engadget really needs to limit IP related reporting to those who actually understand the terminology. Patent Application != Patent, but that's okay, we'll say it's patented so that people can get up-in-arms about "oh, now they are patenting the wheel!" about something that hasn't even hit an examiner's desk yet.

Man take a "claim the world" approach when submitting an application, leaving it to the examiner to tell them where/how they need to limit. I would bet that, if this actually gets issued as a patent (not likely), the claims will look a lot different than they do today.

[scott @ Jun 9th 2008 7:08AM]

Could someone please send me a patent application number on the bluetooth one so i can look it up. i looked pretty hard on google's patent search and couldnt find it.