Apple applies for patent to keep screens fingerprint-less

If messy fingerprints have you wiping your iPhone, iPod, or iPad screen on your shirtsleeve or pant leg several times a day, well, Apple has an app(lication) for that--a patent application, to be precise.The trick is not to ask customers to wash their hands before touching the screen. Rather, it involves coating the screens of electronic devices with an oil-resistant material called oleophobic, according to a patent application that recently surfaced on Patently Apple.The liquid coating is applied using a method called Physical Vapor Desposition ("PVD"). The technique is used to deposit thin films of vaporized material onto the surface. In this case, the coating is applied in liquid form inside of a bottle that is pressurized with inert gas, so that it can be sprayed onto the surface.Rumors has it, the fingerprint-less surface might be a feature on the new iPhone 5. But the surface coating isn't entirely novel. The latest patent application describes an improved process and a more efficient one. Apple has already put the oil-resistant material onto surfaces of the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, or an iPad. Unfortunately, CNET previously reported that the coating begins to wear off after a while. Screenshot by Boonsri Dickinson/CNET Perhaps the iPhone 5 will have this patent technology all over it.

Apple applies for 5 patents tied to Liquidmetal, 3D printing

Apple has applied for five new patents, all related to Liquidmetal technology.The US Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday published five patent applications Apple has filed on the process by which it would use Liquidmetal to build next-generation products. The patents are heavily technical, discussing the process for incorporating the technology into devices, but indicate that the company is at least thinking about incorporating Liquidmetal into several products, including smartphones, tablets, and digital displays.Patently Apple reported on the applications earlier Thursday.Interestingly, Apple's patent applications also tie in 3D printing and how the technology could be used to build certain devices with Liquidmetal.Liquidmetal has been rumored to be coming to Apple devices for years. The technology is a special "metallic glass" that aims at becoming commonplace in next-generation products. That refrain has been heard for years, though, which means that speculation of Liquidmetal coming to Apple products should be taken with the proverbial grain of salt.