New Apple Patent Applications Show Hybrid Wireless Earphones And Shake To Print Options
by Brent Dirks
October 4, 2012
While the EarPods debuted to mixed reviews, a new patent application shows that Apple is hard at work creating a much more interesting solution. According to Patently Apple, the new headset will provide users with a temporary wireless option that would be great during exercise.
If you’ve ever tried to run or exercise with wired headphones, it can definitely be a chore with tangled wires. But Apple’s invention describes a hybrid option that can be used both wired and wirelessly.
A series of clips or magnets holds the two parts of the solution together. When detached, the audio would automatically be sent wirelessly via Bluetooth or some other protocol.
The downside of the hybrid solution would be battery life, which would be anywhere from around 30 to 60 minutes.
I’ve been testing out a set of Bluetooth earphones, the BackBeat GO from Plantronics, for an upcoming review and have been really pleased with being able to exercise wirelessly. I like the idea of Apple’s apparent solution, but I think the battery life would be a big downside.
And another patent application shows that in the future, iOS device users might be able to select print settings by just shaking the device. Users can shake their iOS devices now to shuffle songs, but the application shows how shaking an iPhone could enable a print settings mode and doing the same thing on an iPad could cancel printing.
Source: Patently Apple
