Apple secures 17 new patents (images)

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today published a series of 17 recently granted patents to Apple. The patents involve things like digital-camera calibration and the way in which a computing device boots under a single security model. The concept of wirelessly syncing media, Apple's iPod Shuffle design, top control buttons, and the underneath clip are all now officially Apple's.

Patent 8,150,255 describes the "Flash Control for Electronic Rolling Shutter," shown in the image above.

The patent granted to Apple for "Apparatus and Method for Compensating for Variations in Digital Cameras" details the manufacturing method for a digital video camera.

Figure 1 of patent 8,149,279 identifies this drawing as "a perspective view illustrating a portable media player in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention."

One of the more notable patents Apple has been granted is one related to wireless synchronization. Dubbed "Wireless synchronization between media player and host device," the patent allows Apple to add content to a media device over the air regardless of whether it's in a docking station or sitting in the user's pocket.

Design patent D656,955 is titled "Electronic Device," which shows the current version of the iPod Shuffle.

Patent 8,146,244 shows a "method of manufacturing a handheld computing device" -- what we now recognize as the iPod.

Patent 8,151,128 is for a "computer system power source with improved light-load efficiency."