Apple Inc. (AAPL) Simplifying This Invention With Single Claim

Page 1 of 2

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is always looking for a way to make things easier on its users. The Cupertino based company doesn’t want to do anything that is confusing and may put people off. For this reason, many of the company’s patents are often times updated as it comes up with easier ways of doing things.

Apple Inc. (AAPL)This is the case when it comes to the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) spiral interface for iTunes. Although this may not be something you think about often, if at all, it is very important to Apple.

If you want to learn more about this patent, you can do so by checking out the official application as published by the US Patent and Trademark Office: User Interface for Media Playback

Here is the abstract:

“A graphical user interface made up of icons representing individual files and collectively forming the shape of a spiral is described along with methods of using and creating the graphical user interface. The spiral interface is useful to display detailed information about many of the items in a list and facilitates manipulation of list order and selection of the active file in the list. The interface further permits the use of a representative icon associated with the list as a whole.”

As noted above, this is an update to a previous patent with the hopes of simplifying its claim.

In fact, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has drilled down so far that there is only one claim being made in the patent. It is as follows:

“A method of playlist manipulation comprising: providing a graphical user interface in the form of a receding spiral made up of a collection of icons representing media items in a playlist; providing an icon in a center region of the receding spiral representing the entire playlist; and receiving inputs representative of a selection and dragging of a representation of a media item or playlist into the center region of the receding spiral and displaying a new receding spiral based on the media item or playlist currently in the center region of the receding spiral.”

Everything Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) does is based around simplicity. You may not fully understand what this patent is all about, but you can be rest assured that Cupertino has made changes for the better.

For a better idea of what this patent has to offer, check out the image:

Page 1 of 2