As paid video content becomes more available via different distribution channels, tablet and wireless phone-viewing usage has increased, while computer viewing usage has decreased from 2011, according to the J.D. Power and Associates "2012 U.S. Residential Pay-to-View Study" (http://www.jdpower.com/). But the amount of people who watch TV on their Macs or PCs is still impressive -- and a good argument for my longed-for iMac with built-in TV features.

The study, now in its second year, provides insights concerning attitudes, viewing preferences, behavior patterns, awareness and experiences among pay-to-view customers of the major home television and video service providers in the U.S. The study finds that 18% of customers use tablets for viewing paid video content, making them the most-often-used handheld device, up from 11% in 2011.

Usage by wireless phone customers increases to 16%, up from 14%...

This is a totally selfish column, so feel free to move on if you wish. But I want Apple to open a retail store in my end of Nashville (that would be the north side).

Apple has a retail store in the west side of Music City in the Green Hills Mall. According to the daily newspaper, "The Tennesseean" (http://www.tennessean.com) another is planned for Williamson County, the next county over. When the doors open it will be only the third Apple Store in the state, but the second in Middle Tennessee. (The third one is in Memphis, TN.)

"An Apple Store at the mall in Nashville’s posh Green Hills neighborhood is often crowded with customers," notes "The Tennessean." "A nearby location in Franklin, also an affluent community, could help Apple reach a greater chunk of the demographic drawn to its pricey, pocket-sized inventions."

A little condescending, perhaps. But there's a demographic in the north...

Apple has filed a patent (number 20120154268) with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for remote control systems that can distinguish stray light sources. It apparently involves the current Apple TV and perhaps the rumored Apple-branded HDTV ("iTV").

Remote control systems that can distinguish predetermined light sources from stray light sources, e.g., environmental light sources and/or reflections are provided. The predetermined light sources can be disposed in asymmetric substantially linear or two-dimensional patterns. The predetermined light sources also can be configured to exhibit signature characteristics. The predetermined light sources also can output light at different signature wavelengths. The predetermined light sources also can emit light polarized in one or more predetermined polarization axes. Remote control systems of the present invention also can include methods for adjusting an allocation of predetermined light sources and/or the technique used to...

Several Apple patents have appeared today at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Following is a summary of each.

Two patents involve battery technology. Patent number 20120153728 is for balancing voltages between battery banks and involves a system that that balances voltages between battery banks. The system includes battery banks, including a first bank and a second bank, and a first capacitor. William C. Athas and Thomas C. Greening are the inventors.

Patent number 20120153898 involves a method and system for charging a series battery. Some embodiments of the present invention provide a system for charging a series battery, wherein the series battery is comprised of a set of banks which are connected in series, so that the same charging current passes through each bank. During the charging process, the system measures a voltage across each bank in the set of banks. The system then compares the measured voltage with a target voltage for each...

By Greg Mills

Famous for pre-launching visionary vaporware products, still way back in the pipeline, that either don't actually launch or have serious flaws that slowly become apparent, Microsoft did it again.  

Hopeful that the Windows fan boys would stir up iPad killer anticipation and raise Microsoft's fortunes, CEO Steve Ballmer showed off yet another prototype tablet. Despite declaring Apple's iPad's market a "rounding error sized challenge to Windows," Microsoft now sees that Apple is indeed taking significant business sales away from them and their partners.  

The first thing you notice is that the latest iPad killer is 9 x16 in shape, due to the HDTV format screen. RIM picked that format for their failed PlayBook tablets, as well. Not only is the screen real-estate truncated for uses other than watching video, for reasons only Microsoft can fathom, they plan to release two versions of the Surface tablet that are platform incompatible,...

The Yankee Group (http://ww.yankeegroup.com) says that tablets in use in the U.S. will climb from 25 million in 2011 to more than 134 million in 2015, with sales eventually eclipsing those of personal computers.

Of course they will. Tablets are less expensive and serve different functions for the most part. Smartphones will outsell tablets, but that doesn't bode ill for the tablet market. We're talking (no pun intended) apples and oranges.

Currently, iPads represent 51% of all tablets owned in the U.S., leaving all other makers battling for less than half the overall market. Still, almost 25% of respondents who intend to buy a tablet in the next six months say they don’t know what brand they will purchase, which presents huge opportunity for manufacturers looking to grow their base, according to the Yankee Group.

Other findings from the research group's report include:

° The...

Small cells, Wi-Fi solutions to help offset mobile traffic
The ever increasing amount of mobile traffic is causing some "traffic jams." A new report from Juniper Research (http://www.juniperresearch.com) has found that while the level of data delivered to mobile devices is expected to continue to expand dramatically over the next five years, service providers will offload nearly 60% of traffic in that period.

According to the report, service providers are increasingly seeking to reduce the strain on their network caused by the proliferation of connected smart devices by deploying their own WiFi hotspot networks and offering small cell solutions to end-users.

The report, "Mobile Data Offload & Onload: WiFi & Small Cell Strategies 2012-2016," notes that while small cells were developed primarily to enhance network coverage, service providers are increasingly offering them...

An Apple patent (number 20120148225) for a light isolating protective cover for a small form factor electronic device has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

A portable device has a rear facing camera assembly and a front facing display assembly that includes at least a protective cover layer, a display stack that includes a plurality of display components arranged in a plurality of interconnected layers, the display stack providing an imaging service, and a flat support chassis arranged to provide support for the display stack.

In the described embodiment, a protective cover can wrap around and protect at least the rear portion of the portable device without adversely affecting an image capture process carried out by the rear facing camera assembly. The inventors are Chong Yip Chow. Hongqin Zhang, Shizhe Shen and Michael DiVincent.

Also concerning cameras and mobile devices is new patent number 20120147193, which involves a back panel for a...

Apple has applied for a patent (number 20120145841) is for a flat panel display including a hinge assembly, such as that in the current generation iMac and the Apple Cinema Display. An apparatus for a flat panel is disclosed.

The apparatus comprises a flat panel assembly and a hinge mechanism coupled to the flat panel assembly. The hinge mechanism is adaptable to an industry standard mount and a non-industry standard mount. A system and method in accordance with the present invention allows for the replacement of a non-VESA standard compatible display mount with a display mount that is compatible with the VESA standard. Utilizing the system and method in accordance with the present invention, such a replacement can be accomplished with minimal effort, and in an efficient manner.

The inventors are John Ternus, Eric Knopf, Sean Corbin, Brett Degner, Danielle De Iuliis, Shin Nishibori, Amy Aimei Han, Michael David Hillman, Daniel Lynn McBroom, Michael David MacBroom and...

According to a new patent (number 8199249) Apple is working on ways to improve videoconferencing The patent is for image capture using the display device as a light source.

A digital image capture system and method uses a display device to illuminate a target with light for improved image capture under poor lighting conditions. Various characteristics of the flash (e.g., brightness, color, duration, etc.) can be adjusted to improve image capture. Users are provided with feedback (e.g., live video feed, audio and/or visual countdowns, etc.) to assist them in preparing for image capture. The captured images are seamlessly integrated with existing applications (e.g., video conferencing, instant text messaging, etc.).

Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "Videoconferencing is one of the fastest growing segments of the computer industry. This growth is based in part on affordable digital video cameras. Digital video cameras (e.g., 'WebCams' can be...

Apple has been granted several patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, including one (D661693) for the design of the iPad and one (D661305) for the design of the Apple Cinema Display.

The inventors of the former are Bartley K. Andre, Daniel J. Costner, Daniele De Iulis, Evans Hankey, Richard P. Howarth, Jonathan P. Ive, Steve Jobs, Duncan Robert Kerr, Shin Nishibori, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Peter Russell-Clarke, Duoglas Satzger, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang and Rico Zorkendorfer.

The inventors of the latter are Bartley K. Andre, Daniel J. Costner, Daniele De Iulis, Evans Hankey, Richard P. Howarth, Jonathan P. Ive, Duncan Robert Kerr, Shin Nishibori, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Peter Russell-Clarke, Duoglas Satzger, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang and Rico Zorkendorfer.

Apple also won patents for the following:

° Patent number 8200986 for a computer related method and apparatus to transmit a logical...

Apple is reportedly working on NFC (near field communications) functionality for the upcoming iPhone. If so, it may be a timely feature addition.

A new report from Juniper Research (http://www.juniperresearch.com) has found that more than 1 in 4 of US and Western European mobile phone users will use their NFC-enabled mobile phone to pay for goods in-store by 2017, compared with less than 2% in 2012.

Worldwide, more NFC payment pilots are being launched and transitioning to full commercial service being spearheaded by both mobile network operators and financial institutions. The Juniper report found that, while mobile retail payment services of all types are growing in popularity, the ability to "tap" an NFC phone against a POS terminal to make a purchase has tremendous user appeal.

For mobile wallet providers and partners, NFC payments also provide new and personalized retail...