Apple Thunderbolt iOS Related Patents Spotted

It may well be time to get a whole lot faster with image and data transfers on your mobile devices if you're an Apple fan, folks, as several patent applications have been picked up today very possibly leading toward further involvement of the Intel Thunderbolt technology with Apple's iOS products. Though its still generally a toss-up when it comes to who owns what in the Thunderbolt-branded world, it's fairly clear that Apple's Patent Pending invention here, including high speed connector inserts and cables complete with high strength and improved heat conduction will lead to the iOS world.

The key in the whole massive body of texts in this set of patent applications comes in a bit of a shroud. When you get past all the information about the Thunderbolt cords and ports we already know, you find a sentence that refers to a portable media player. While that could mean essentially anything, you know and I know that they're talking about mobile devices such as the iPad and the iPhone. Read it aloud right here, straight from the application:

"the present invention, connection may also be a new type of connection. ... a connection may be provided between a portable media player and a display, a computer and a portable media player, or between other types of devices." – Thunderbolt patent via Patently Apple

This may very well mean that Apple will be reengineering the known Thunderbolt port to be small enough to interact with the famously thin mobile devices they've got on the market now. The transfer of data, the streaming of media, and the charging of devices could be improved by this technology. There are three patents in this set, one having been filed one day before Apple introduced the Thunderbolt port, the other two about three weeks before the first Apple Thunderbolt display was shown to the public. Exciting stuff!

[via Patently Apple]