Two US patent applications assigned to Apple Computer, Inc. have been published today:
• United States Patent Application #20060288053: Apparatus and method for peer-to-peer N-way synchronization in a decentralized environment (Filed: June 21, 2005):
An apparatus and method of synchronizing a datum between a plurality of stores is disclosed. A version history is associated with the datum in each store. The version history has one or more entries, and each entry has an identifier and a value. The identifier identifies a store that has modified the datum, and the value indicates a number of modifications to the datum made by the store. When synchronizing the datum between stores, the version histories of the datum are compared to determine whether one version history is subordinate to another version history. The datum in the store having the subordinate version history is then replaced with the datum having the dominant version history. When compared, a conflict resolution by a user is required if the version histories are not identical, if the version histories do not have all the same identifiers, and if one version history does not contain all of the identifiers with equal or greater values of those in the other version history.
• United States Patent Application #20060284878: Resolution Independent User Interface Design (Filed: July 21, 2006):
Graphical user interface material map objects are specified by a collection of attribute-value pairs, the collection of which comprises a complete description of the material map and may be used by a rendering engine to create a visual representation of the material map at any resolution. That is, material map representations in accordance with the invention are resolution independent. Another benefit of representing material maps in accordance with the invention is that they may be encrypted to prevent unauthorized inspection or use.
More info: http://hrmpf.com/wordpress/104/apple-and-resolution-independent-user-interface-design
Related articles:
Apple confirms ‘resolution independence’ and more coming in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard – October 23, 2006
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard to feature ‘resolution independence?’ – May 21, 2006
