Apple + new patent = iPhone speculation

by Marco Chiappetta — Saturday, October 28, 2006, 01:00 PM EDT

It looks like Apple just won a patent for a new speech recognition technology, and the news has spurred analysts into speculating that Jobs' and crew have a new mobile phone in the works.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Apple Computer Inc. won a patent for a speech-recognition technology earlier this week, fueling speculation that the iPod-maker is laying the groundwork for a future "iPhone." The patent, approved Tuesday by the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office, allows Apple to assign "meanings to spoken utterances in a speech recognition system." The Apple-focused blog Mac News Network, which first reported the news, suggested that the patent, which was first filed in February of 2004, could be used for a future "iPhone."

Let's hope that if this turns out to be true, the "iPhone" ends up being better than the "ROKR". Love 'em or hate 'em, Apple sure can design some great looking hardware.

Tags: ATI, Apple, iPhone, Phone, App, Patent, spec, One, One S, pple, IP, appl, AP

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com

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