Macrumors has a detailed breakdown of a couple of new iPhone patent applications, but here's the gist: Apple is looking at how to trigger events based on movements (or gestures), and one patent filing shows a front-facing video camera. The camera is easy -- there's your 2-way video chat (we hope). The motion stuff? Well, Apple could go in several directions with that.

According to the indications in the patent filing, Apple is suggesting the interface on the iPhone could change under certain conditions. Specifically, contacts would get larger if you are running. That makes them easier to tap when you aren't able to be as accurate. This is just one example, but I think the more the iPhone can correctly guess the context of its use, the better. We were all a little excited when we saw the auto-orientation of (some) apps, and the relatively minor miracle of a proximity sensor which turns off the screen when you raise the phone to your face. The motion-sensing stuff takes this way beyond all that.

While this stuff won't likely make it into the next iPhone revision, it does show you where Apple is headed: more features, better usability. Although I do notice the power button seems to have moved to the right, away from the top. Will that be part of the next iPhone? There's mention of everything from a stylus to a scroll wheel (like BlackBerry), but I think that's just patent chatter (covering the bases, as it were). Here's a link to the patent filing.

[thanks to Alejandro for help in plumbing the patent filing]

Since we last wrote about them, motionVFX has expanded their selection of high def templates for Apple's Motion significantly. The website is just as easy to navigate as it was before, but there's a lot more content fit for professional video work or great starting points for custom titles, intros and menus.

As a special Holiday treat, motionVFX is offering a coupon code to TUAW readers, good for a 40% discount on all of their Motion templates. : Enter coupon code X9HQVV at checkout to receive your Holiday savings. A big thanks to motionVFX for the generous gift!

Apple has released Pro Applications Update 2008-04, which includes updates to Final Cut Pro, Compressor, Color, DVD Studio Pro, Cinema Tools, Motion, Soundtrack Pro and Shake. The update, according to Apple, "addresses general performance issues and improves overall stability."

No specific details were provided about what the update improved about each software component, other than to say each update "addresses specific customer issues and general performance issues." The updates are recommended for all users of the software.

The update includes the following versions:

• Final Cut Pro 6.0.5
• Compressor 3.0.5
• Shake 4.1.1
• DVD Studio Pro 4.2.1
• Cinema Tools 4.0.1
• Motion 3.0.2
• Color 1.0.3
• Soundtrack Pro 2.0.2

The update is available from Apple's website.

Thanks, Clancy!

If you're bored silly with the typical theme backgrounds in Keynote, pop on over to iPresentee's website and check out Keynote Motion Themes 2.0. These themes, which were released today (7/7/08), add five more motion themes to iPresentee's product line.

All of these themes provide moving backgrounds to catch the eyes of your audience. The five themes -- Money, Curtain, Rain, Story, and Exercise Book -- include 14 or more master slide layouts each.

Motion Themes 2.0 is available online for $25, or you can purchase individual motion themes for $10 each. And by the way, the free Keynote Objects icons are still available on the iPresentee site.

[via prMac]

Apple released two Pro App updates bright and early this Monday morning:

ProKit Update 4.5: "This update improves reliability for Apple's professional applications and is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Express, Aperture, Logic Studio and Logic Express."

Plugin Manager 1.7.3: "This update improves reliability for Apple's professional applications and is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Express, Aperture, Logic Studio and related SDKs."

According the release notes for the Plugin Manager update, it addresses a backwards compatibility issue with Apple and third-party filters in the applications listed above. Users of any of these apps and Motion should fire up Software Update and install the recommended updates. No reboot is required (and there was much rejoicing!).

Update: These updates were new to me! Sorry for the false alarm all, I just installed FCP and jumped the gun. That being said, be sure to check out Apple's list of available updates. You never know what you'll find on there.

Thanks to everyone in the comments for setting me straight.

motionVFX, a new source of templates for Apple Motion, is offering 2d and 3d templates prepped at 1920x1080 and 24fps. The 10 second clips are downloadable for $10, so I took one for a spin.

There are rare circumstances when I would use a template for a finished piece, and motionVFX has a relatively small (but growing) starting selection which limits the chances that I'll find anything "perfect" for a current project. However, I love getting inside of other people's work to figure out new ways of doing things and the template I picked was well done, well organized and I did actually learn some new tricks.

The site navigation is mostly intuitive, but lacking in a few features. The previews are quick and helpful, but I miss the "lightbox" functionality found on most stock sites. Maybe they'll get to that as the collection grows. Checkout with Paypal is great for me, but the offsite credit card processing breaks from the overall professional look of the site. The fact that I was quite happy with my purchase made that a moot point for me, though.

motionVFX is offering TUAW lovers a special discount... 25% off of your purchase, including their high-res stock photos, with unlimited use through the end of February. Just enter the coupon code "J2LGR7" at checkout. And because I care about our readers, I tested that too. It works.

While a lot has been said about the iPod Touch, not much has been said about the new old standard, the iPod Classic. Kirk McElhearn has written a pretty scathing review of a feature that I didn't even notice-- that album artwork on the side while you're browsing music. Apparently it's not related to what you're listening to at all (which is what I originally suspected it was): it's completely random.

Why would this be the case? I thought it was a cool feature to put what you're listening to on the side, so even while you browse through the music, you could have a static reminder of what's playing. But no. Kirk says it's flashy and moving and random-- just like (gasp) a Flash ad. Apparently you can turn it off, and have just a static graphic sit there. But that doesn't explain why anyone thought it was a good idea in the first place.

To be completely fair to Apple, I haven't actually used the iPod Classic myself yet-- maybe there's some useful function that can come out of showing random, moving art (suggestions for what to listen to next, maybe?). But flash for flash's sake like this seems a weird decision on Apple's part, especially in a device that's supposed to be a Classic iPod.

[via Tsai]

Apple is pumping out updates at a furious rate as of late. The latest update from Cupertino is the MacBook Pro Software Update 1.1 which 'provides important bug fixes and improves stability with Motion 2 and Motion 3. It is recommended for all 2.2/2.4GHz MacBook Pro models.'

Many readers wrote in and reported that Motion 2 and 3 were unusable on their MacBook Pros after the recent Pro App update, here's hoping this fixes that issue.

Most puppets scare me. Horrid little creatures, only coming alive when controlled by some being of perceived omnipotence manipulating every aspect of their pathetic little lives. But enough about my puppet paranoia, and on to this awesome hack. Some cunning (and brave! I'd never swing my notebook around like that!) soul has created a piece of digital artwork using the motion sensor built into his PowerBook. When he swings the machine, a little animated man on the screen reacts with realistic physics to the movement. Hooray for digital inertia!

[via UneasySilence]

On this day of excess tryptophan and annoying relatives, it's important to take a minute and give thanks for the things we enjoy, yet take for granted the rest of the year. This year, I'm thankful that I get to sit around and blog about a company that cares enough about design to go that extra step in everything it does, including elevators. Where other companies would put simple buttons, Apple placed an elegant masterpiece of interaction design in front of the elevator at its flagship Ginza store in Tokyo. I've long been impressed by the motion graphics work produced by Apple, but I have to say that this is by far one of my favorites. Enjoy, and happy turkey day!

[via Cult of Mac]

Apple has updated Aperture to 1.1.2 though they haven't, at the moment, provided any details as to what the update does (at least not on their website).

Also lurking in your Software Update panel is the Pro Application Update 2006-01, which ' addresses several issues with underlying frameworks and shared components for Apple's professional applications and is strongly recommended for all users of:

• Final Cut Studio Final Cut Pro 5.1
  
• Motion 2.1
  
• Soundtrack Pro 1.1
• DVD Studio Pro 4.1
• Shake 4.1
• LiveType 2.1
• Compressor 2.1
• Apple Qmaster 2.1
• Final Cut Express HD 3.5'

So get to updating, people!

This should really come as a shock to no one, but Final Cut Studio is not supported on the MacBook. Does this mean you can't install Final Cut on a MacBook? No, the install won't stop you, however, the experience won't be all that great. Since the MacBook sports an integrated video processor, which Apple says, doesn't support floating processing performance will be 'degraded' on a MacBook.

Bottomline: if you're a video professional you should pony up the extra dough for a MacBook Pro.

MacTV has posted Apple's NAB 2006 demo reel which shows off a number of movies and commercials that used Final Cut Studio in their production. This is very well put together, and really shows off the power of Final Cut Studio (as it was designed to do).

Thanks, Cepheus.

According to Think Secret, it just may be. It looks like the majority of engineers who had been working on Aperture have either left or been reassigned to different projects within the company. Think Secret goes on to claim that the applications development was "...a mess," according to a source, and that developers from Shake and Motion had to be brought in to do a little damage control.

I haven't used Aperture, so I can't speak for it's supposed buggieness. It did experience quite a price drop with the 1.1 update, so maybe Apple is eager to move existing copies.

MacLive is a 3-day conference and workshop for Mac-toting creative professionals everywhere. The more than sixty workshops focus on Photoshop, Motion & DVD Studio Pro, Final Cut Pro, Mac OS X, the iPod, After Effects and a lot more.

This is the very first MacLive conference, and it's put on by the folks at Layers Magazine (which is the successor to Mac Design Magazine). Registration is $699US, but you can save yourself $100 if you sign up before April 17th. The event will take place at the Jacob Javits Center in NYC on May 11-13, 2006. Sounds like a great time.