Apple has announced that it is filing a lawsuit against HTC over the alleged infringement of about 20 patents that cover critical aspects of touch phones, like hardware, software and touch-display control. Some question whether the lawsuit is actually meant to send Google a message. But maybe it’s against the entire smartphone industry and it’s just Apple showing their teeth.

Apple should probably be more worried about Microsoft and its Windows Phone 7 Series since it has such a nice user interface and all. Basically it’s just business as usual as everybody tries to gain some breathing room in this turf war.

Apple files some interesting patents, some go mainstream, some don’t, but they are worth paying attention to. The latest patent involves proximity-based ads. The idea is that it would allow users to add contacts as icons on the home screen.

But it goes a step further allowing a business to contact people based on their proximity. So if you’re near say a burger joint, you could receive contact information, their address and special offers when you’re near. It could be established via wired or wireless communications, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS.

Apple has had some success with their unibody MacBooks, so it makes sense that they would start considering the possibility of introducing unibody iPods in the future. That’s what this recently released patent application suggests.

A unibody iPod could mean a lighter, thinner and tougher iPod, plus they save money by using fewer parts. Otherwise, the iPod classic shown here remains pretty much the same, but “the final part looks like it was machined down from a large thick slab of material,” according to Apple.

The Moxia sphere is a folding multitouch display with an always-on internet connection and gyroscopic elements that can also be used folded flat. It will be able to display the world, browse web pages or control interactive games. All in a device about the size of an apple.

The device can be recharged by opening one of the petals and can also display an interactive world map like Google Earth. It sounds very promising, but will likely be a while in coming.

Apple may be looking into a wireless remote wand to power the next generation of Apple TV media systems, offering the cursor on the Apple TV display the kind of accuracy a mouse gives the cursor on a PC. Just like millions of Nintendo Wii owners around the world.

Unlike the current 5-button remote for the current version of Apple TV, the wand would be capable of controlling a bunch of new operations and applications that may be available from the media system, including zoom operations, a keyboard application, an image application, an illustration application, and a media application.

Patents are often looked on with disdain by consumers and other businesses. The problem is that many patents that are approved are for technologies that were already around or not new. This leaves firms that have been producing products similar to a newly issued patent open for suit.

Many are feeling that this is the case with the patent Apple was granted on multi-touch and gesture control for computers and mobile phones. Multi-touch and gesture control are commonly used in the technology world. I wondered yesterday if Apple’s new patent would send the company on a crusade of legal action against everyone who is using multi-touch in their products.

Patents are a huge source of income for many companies, whatever the companies plan to do with the patents. Sometimes patents end up being used exclusively by one company and other times the company will license the patents to other firms for a fee.

Apple has been granted a major patent recently that covers multi-touch and gesture controls on computers and computer-like devices. With the massive popularity of touch-capable devices, this patent could prove to be the most lucrative patent Apple owns.

It’s a common problem. You have your headphones on and you’re in a crowd, but the music is drowned out by the crowd. Well, check this out. This Apple patent takes a look at dynamic volume adjustment that is based on your surroundings, not your music.

Looks like a sound sensor would detect the ambient noise and adjust itself based on the situation. The system wouldn’t force you to keep it at it’s own preferences and would take into account the user’s own choices for volume when setting the sound level. Interestingly, the patent application was first filed shortly after the launch of the original iPhone. Obviously Apple isn’t using it to date, but they already use ambient sensors to detect light for the displays on the iPhone, iPod touch etc.

Apple’s Mighty Mouse already offers a 360-degree scrolling capability with a multi-button interface. We really didn’t think there was much room for improvement. That’s because MacBlogz has done all of the thinking for us, creating this simple yet elegant prototype of how a multitouch Mighty Mouse might look.

It’s aluminum and its profile is kinda sexy. The scroll ball on the Mighty Mouse has been a problem for most users, so this design makes a lot of sense and should this concept mouse actually make it into production some day, users will be very happy campers.

Ask anybody and they’ll tell you Apple invented the iPod. Not entirely correct according to Apple themselves, who has credited a UK man as author of some of the original patents that outlined how today’s PMPs work. Kane Kramer had no idea about iPods back then, but he sketched out a rudimentary media player in 1979. Sadly, financial difficulties in 1988 meant he couldn’t renew the patent and so it entered the public domain. Apple then used the concept as evidence in their legal case against Burst.com, who were accusing the company of patent infringement and looking for a slice of iProfits.

Kramer’s PMP was called the IXI, and stored only 3.5 minutes of audio and oddly enough it even looks just a bit like what eventually became the iPod. The inventor had to endure ten hours being questioned by Burst’s legal team, who had claimed that the intellectual property of four patents they held was being used by Apple without payment or agreement. Obviously now that Apple has fessed up, Kramer is looking at some kind of compensation. Apple did give Kramer a free iPod that apparently broke after several months. Sadly if not for the lawsuit Kramer may have lived in relative obscurity and we would never have known.

It’s far from the first time that Apple has filed patents for some kind of tablet computer. It’s been described in the past as a large iPhone, or as a full tablet, but these latest images look like a large mobile internet device that would be pretty neat. Most of the 52-page filing is in regards to the touchpad.

The device would be large enough to read easily and use, but also thin and light. One of the images has an interesting virtual keyboard. Some of the illustrations show a tablet Mac with a full windowing interface, where interface windows can be enlarged, shrunk, moved, and cycled, rather than being locked in place like the iPhone. Click the link for an interesting read on more details.

Not sure how much we are willing to believe this, but AppleInsider has found a patent that apparently shows music over the internet streaming to your iPhone and iPod touch. You wouldn’t have to sync content to your device. Instead, you’d sync only the metadata and stream whatever you wanted direct from your computer. Like i said, we aren’t sure if we’re buying this just yet, but it’s interesting. My guess is that there may be just a smidgen of truth to this, but we’re missing some kind of important piece of info. While you’re waiting on this, get an iPhone arm.

Is Apple getting into solar power? It looks that way. According to Tradethenews.com, the company filed a patent involving placing solar cells on portable devices. This means that Apple’s iPhone or other devices could have photovoltaic cells stacked underneath LCD touch screens, which maximizes the area available for harnessing and soaking up the power of the sun.

According to the filing, performance info in regard to the performance of a device’s solar cells could be displayed on the main screen next to battery power, which makes sense. It could also appear on top of the actual cells, which could be displaying the Apple logo. Imagine less charging of devices. Then one day no charging at all. Nice.

Audio-Technica announced the availability of some new noise-canceling headphones recently. These particular in-ear headphones are known as the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3 and pricing is set at around $170.

The Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3, according to its maker, blocks up to 85% of outside noise via “patented” technology which uses embedded miniature microphones to detect ambient noise and adjust the sound-canceling signal appropriately. It comes with three sizes of ear tips (small, medium and large) for a customized fit.

iLuv will showcase some new products at CES 2008 on Jan. 7th. One of the coolest is the i399 audio system. The i399 BluePin 2.1 Channel Hi-Fi Audio System for the iPod is the first iLuv product that actually features the newest BluePin II technology, which offers the user more freedom from up to 300 ft. away. With the detachable BluePin II, users can choose to listen to music on Bluetooth headphones by sending music from another stereo Bluetooth device to the i399. Some other nice features include FM stereo radio capabilities, digital clock display and an auxiliary line input for 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation iPods as well as other audio devices.

The i399 promises a richer more true sound thanks in part to the patented jAura sound cell technology and a woofer built into its 2.1 channel speaker system. Another impressive capability is that the i399 can also do incoming and outgoing calls since it includes a speaker phone. Yet another nice touch is the rhythm-sensitive blue LED light. That’s always a nice touch.