Apple Patents: 3D Gesture Control, Phone Status Sharing System

Apple has patented a ton of interesting ideas but not all of those have turned into actual products. The company has been granted a bunch of new patents recently, including one that covers working with 3D applications. The patent document suggests that future iPad owners will be able to take advantage of 3D gestures to get things done. This could have huge benefits for designers, artists, and other professionals.

As Patently Apple has covered, users will be able to use 3D gestures to interact with objects on their tablet. The technology can create 3D objects based on 2D objects. It is not clear when Apple will actually introduce products with this technology on board though.

Speaking of interesting Apple patents, AppleInsider is now reporting that Apple has a patent application for a system that allows callers to check the status of other users on their phones. This way they can determine whether the other party is able to talk before making a phone call. The patent application is titled Methods to determine availability of user based on mobile phone status, which gives away what it is all about.

This system would provide callers with better information so they can decide when to make their phone calls. Device owners only have to set their sharing policies and preferences, and the system takes care of the rest. The idea sounds interesting but this could be another consumer privacy headache for Apple.