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Apple may be working on new e-book features for iOS

The iPad maker files a patent for technology that would add a floating toolbar for quick searches, taking notes, and highlighting text.

Donna Tam Staff Writer / News
Donna Tam covers Amazon and other fun stuff for CNET News. She is a San Francisco native who enjoys feasting, merrymaking, checking her Gmail and reading her Kindle.
Donna Tam
Apple's patent application for creating and viewing digital note cards. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Apple may be working on some new search and highlight features for reading e-books on iPads, Patently Apple reported today.

The company filed a patent application for "creating and viewing digital note cards," according to the application published today (PDF below). The patent outlines technology for a new floating toolbar that allows users to do quick searches of text and enable highlighting and note-taking.

Users would be able to highlight text with various colors or by applying different fonts -- like strike-through font -- and add notes. In addition to text, these notes could include other media such as embedded audio, video, HTML, and hypertext.

Apple patent -- creating and viewing digital note cards: