The IHS research group (www.isuppli.com) recently cut its projections of ultrabook sales in fiscal 2012 from 10.3 million to 22 million. However, Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) says that, although currently viewed as prohibitively expensive, ultrabook sales will explode in the next five years.

The research group thinks ultrabooks will account for 47% of annual notebook sales by 2016, based on info from business intelligence provider GBI Research. I think they're wrong.

According to the firm's latest research, 1.3 million ultrabooks were sold last year -- as you can see, the estimated sales numbers are all over the place -- but, thanks to technological advances and a drop in component prices, this number is predicted to reach a "massive" 148.7 million by 2016, says Research and Markets.

Ultrabooks (...

An Apple patent (number 20120274653) at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office shows that Apple may be eyeing head-mounted displays for gaming and entertainment applications. The patent is for "peripheral treatment of head-mounted displays."

The patent is for methods and apparatus, including computer program products, implementing and using techniques for projecting a source image in a head-mounted display apparatus for a user. A first display projects an image viewable by a first eye of the user. A first peripheral light element is positioned to emit light of one or more colors in close proximity to the periphery of the first display.

A receives data representing a source image, processes the data representing the source image to generate a first image for the first display and to generate a first set of peripheral conditioning signals for the first peripheral light element, directs the first image to the first display, and directs the first set of peripheral...

I find it hard to believe based on sales, but Strategy Analytics (www.StrategyAnalytics.com) says that, for the first time since the Apple iPhone was released in 2007, the number of iPhone owners who say they definitely will or probably will purchase their next phone from the same brand has declined.

A recent study by the research group found that only 75% of iPhone owners in Western Europe say they are likely to buy their next phone from Apple, down from 88% in 2011. US repeat purchase intentions have also seen a slight decline, down from 93% in 2011 to 88% in 2012. Of course, most companies would love to have those depressed repeat purchase intentions.

"There is no doubt that Apple is continuing its success in retaining existing user base while attracting new customers," says Paul Brown, director at Strategy Analytics’ User Experience Practice. "However, negative press prompted by a...

Apple has filed a patent (number 20120275206) for its power adapters for powering and charging peripheral devices.

The power adapter includes a housing that contains electrical components associated with the power adapter. The power adapter also includes a data port provided at a surface of the housing. The data port is configured to provide external power to the peripheral device.

The inventors are Daniele DeIuiis, Andrew Bert Hodge, Jeffrey L. Robbin, Stanley Carl Ng, Eric W. Anderson and Anthony M. Fadell.

With the new iMac rolling out with no optical drive built-in, it's obvious that Apple is never going to support Blu-ray. I can understand Apple's not building in a Blu-ray player -- after all, the company a) loves thin products, and b) wants you to buy all your music, movies and TV shows at iTunes -- but the company should at least offer Blu-ray support.

Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing -- told Harry McCracken of "TIME" that "Blu-ray has come with issues unrelated to the actual quality of the movie that make [it] a complex and not-great technology … So for a whole plethora of reasons, it makes a lot of sense to get rid of optical discs in desktops and notebooks.”

His preferred Blu-ray alternative? iTunes, of course, which lets you buy a movie and then watch it on all your Apple devices.Once upon a time, people assumed that Macs’ lack of Blu-ray was a delay, not a permanent decision to fast-forward past it. McCracken told Schiller...

An Apple patent (number 8300055) has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and shows that Apple is working on an user interface for controlling three-dimensional animation of an object.

Per the patent a user can control the animation of an object via an interface that includes a control area and a user-manipulable control element. The control area includes an ellipse. The user-manipulable control element includes a three-dimensional arrow with a straight body, a three-dimensional arrow with a curved body, or a sphere. In one embodiment, the interface includes a virtual trackball that is used to manipulate the user-manipulable control element.

Here's Apple's background on the invention: "In the last few decades, computers and software have been used to animate objects. Initially, animation software was complicated and difficult to use. A user was generally required to interact with objects using a low level of abstraction. For example, a user would...

An Apple patent (number 8301725) for variant streams for real-time or near real-time streaming has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

It involves streaming of content using transfer protocols such as an HTTP compliant protocol. In one embodiment, a method includes dividing a stream of data, representing the contiguous time based content of a program (e.g. a live video broadcast), into a plurality of distinct media files, and generating a playlist file having a plurality of tags and Universal Resource Indicators (URIs) indicating an order of presentation of the plurality of distinct media files. The plurality of media files and the playlist file can be made available for transmission to a client device which can retrieve the media files using the playlist file.

Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "Streaming of content generally refers to multimedia content that is constantly transmitted from a server device and received by a client...

Apple has been granted a patent (number 8,302,033) by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for a "touch screen device, method and graphical user interface for providing maps, directions and location-based information." It involves the graphical user interface used in all versions of the iOS Maps app since the software was first introduced in iPhone OS 2.0 and the iPhone 3G in 2008.

Here's Apple's background on the invention: "As portable electronic devices become more compact, and the number of functions performed by a given device increase, it has become a significant challenge to design a user interface that allows users to easily interact with a multifunction device. This challenge is particular significant for handheld portable devices, which have much smaller screens than desktop or laptop computers.

"This situation is unfortunate because the user interface is the gateway through which users receive not only content but also responses to user actions or...

Don't write off the Mac just yet (as if anyone seriously has). Apple sold 4.9 million Macs during its fiscal 2012 fourth quarter that ended Sept. 29. That's an all-time high for Apple computer sales during the September quarter.

That compares to an 8% contraction of the overall computer market during the quarter. Mac sales have exceeded overall computer industry averages for 25 consecutive quarters. Look for that to continue with ever-increasing MacBook Pro and MacBook Air sales -- and the iMac remaining Apple's (and the industry's) hottest desktop model.

Mac retail stores -- which now number 390 (140 outside the US) -- also saw record Mac sales. They sold over 1.1 million Macs.

As far as other hardware, some interesting tidbits:

° Apple TV units totaled 1.3 million during the September quarter -- that's a 100% increase year-over-year. For the past fiscal year, Apple sold five million units of its "hobby" product.

° The iPod touch accounts for...

An Apple patent (number 20120272163) for application-specific group listing has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. It involves an user interface for sharing content from a particular application with another person while you're instant messaging with them.

A method, apparatus, and system for providing active contents between applications activated by a plurality of computer systems are provided. A list of one or more remote users is created. A determination is made whether a first application and a second application are being executed by the at least one or more remote users. The list is updated in response to determining a change in a status of the second application being executed by the one or more remote users using at least one communications feature associated with the first application.

Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "Networks, such as the Internet, intranets, or other private or public networks, are ubiquitous. In...

Apple has filed a patent (number 20120270448) for an USB connector having vertical to horizontal conversion contacts. Per the patent, connector receptacles that provide a right-angle translation, may be readily manufactured, and may have an aesthetically pleasing appearance.

One example may provide a connector receptacle having contacts that provide a right-angle translation. Another example may provide a connector receptacle having an aesthetically pleasing appearance. By inserting an injection molded housing into an over-mold, the interior of a connector may appear to be formed from a single piece of plastic or other material.

Here's Apple's background on the invention: "Electronic devices have become ubiquitous the past several years. The number and types of portable computing devices, tablet, desktop, and all-in-one computers, cell, smart, and media phones, storage devices, portable media players, navigation systems, monitors and other devices has increased...

Apple has filed a patent (number 20120272297) regarding the Lightning connector that debuted with the iPhone 5 and comes with all the latest iOS devices. The patent is entitled "cross-transport authentication."

Per the patent, an authentication controller coupled to a first communication port of a portable media device is allowed to provide authentication on behalf of an accessory device coupled to a second communication port of the portable media device. In one embodiment, a cross transport connector includes a connector configured to couple with an accessory and a connector configured to couple with a portable media device such that the accessory can be coupled to the second communication port of the portable media device.

The cross-transport connector also includes an authentication controller. The authentication controller may request authentication from the media device over the first communication port of the portable media device. The request may also include...