Two Apple Inc. (AAPL) Camera Related Patent Applications – Could these Change Devices in the Future?

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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is always looking for new ways to improve its technology. This definitely holds true for the camera used in many of its devices.

Yesterday, the US Patent and Trademark Office published two Apple patent applications related to improvements revolving around iDevice cameras.

Apple Inc. (AAPL)Once you take a closer look at these two patents, you will see just how serious Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is about improving the camera experience for users.

Like all patent applications, you never know if it will be granted. Along with this, it is hard to say if Cupertino will ever implement the technology if given a chance.

Here are the two patents, complete with the abstract which explains the technology of each in greater detail:

Focus Position Estimation

“A method, apparatus and computer-readable storage medium computer-implemented method for lens position estimation. A drive current value may be received from a lens driver. An orientation of an electronic device may be detected using a motion sensor. A gravity vector may be determined by a processor based upon the orientation. A drive current offset may be determined based upon the gravity vector. The drive current value may be combined with the calculated drive current offset to create a normalized drive current. A lens position value associated with a camera lens of the electronic device may be computed based upon the normalized drive current.”

Motion Sensor Based Virtual Tripod Method for Video Stabilization

“An apparatus, method, and computer-readable medium for motion sensor-based video stabilization. A motion sensor may capture motion data of a video sequence. A controller may compute average motion data of the camera used to capture the video sequence based on motion data from the motion sensor. The controller may then determine the difference between the actual camera motion and the average camera motion to set a video stabilization strength parameter for the frames in the video sequence. A video stabilization unit may utilize the strength parameter to stabilize the frames in the video sequence.”

Can you see how these Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) camera related patent applications could be used by Cupertino in the future?

We don’t have to worry about Apple getting rid of the camera in the iPhone, iPad and other devices. Instead, what we really need to focus on is whether the company continues to push forward the evolution of this technology.

For an image from the “Motion Sensor Based Virtual Tripod Method for Video Stabilization” patent, visit the next page:

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