Patents play a crucial role in upcoming Apple products. Likewise, they also provide a good idea of what people can expect from future offerings. According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the tech giant has obtained 38 patents relating to its iPad, iPhone and iPod offerings. People may expect a new landscape connector, iSight camera and smart cover to ship with Apple products in the future.
Patents do not necessarily mean that Apple plans to include a specific technology in a product soon. In some cases, some patents do not materialize on the actual product. Nonetheless, a good portion of them do show up in Apple's offerings. Patently Apple reported about three design patents granted to Apple. One of the patent designs has been credited to the late CEO Steve Jobs. Three of these designs were related to the previous iPhone model whereas the others include an iPad smart cover and a coil holder mimicking Apple Store's retail stands.
Steve Jobs already hinted about a smart cover for iPad in 2011. However, it did not materialize until another patent was filed in 2012. The 2012 filing differs from the 2011 design in such as a way that it features an additional landscape connector port. It also seemed that Apple has worked on including other support components to enhance the overall iPad experience.
Apple has not made any official announcements on whether it will include the new design components on the upcoming iPad but the possibility remains high. Analysts predicted that the tech giant will likely release a refreshed set of tablets around September this year. Previously, the landscape connector has been spotted a couple of times under IP Filings for 2010 and 2011. So far, the company has not made any moves to include the connector on its iPad series.
Apple will hold its Worldwide Developers Conference this June to announce its iOS 8 and OS Mavericks offerings. The company may also shed light on some hardware upgrades.
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