According to the iPhone blog, a recently published Apple patent application reveals an Apple iPhone dongle of so
me type capable of receiving over the air television, cable television, satellite television and more. The focus of Apple patent application number US 2008/0183757A1 is to allow users to "tag" various aspects of different types of media. If a users likes certain parts of certain types of media, the user might be more inclined to purchase similar items from the iTunes store.
The patent application does discuss the use of a possible external dongle to receive broadcasts as well as possible integration of the receivers within the phone. The primary focus of the patent application, however is the use of the iPhone as a tagging device. Rather than actually receiving broadcasts through your iPhone, the first iteration of the novel system may merely allow you to hook your iPhone up to your television and input when you like something or would like to know more about it. The iPhone would then store or look up the information relating to the media and pitch you something similar from iTunes.
Even if the tagging option launches first, let’s hope iPhones with integrated broadcast receivers are not too far off.
Recent Comments