Proving that it is not content to rest on the laurels of the success of the iPod and adding fuel to the always-rampant speculation as to what the company will do next, Apple Computer Inc. won a patent this week for speech-recognition technology.

Encouraging thoughts of a future launch of an "iPhone" product, Apple filed for "assigning meanings to utterances in a speech recognition system" with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) in February 2004. The technology can be used for "assigning meanings to spoken utterances in a speech recognition system," according to the patent's documentation with the PTO.  

Apple-watching blog Mac News Network speculated this week that since "the granted patent discusses the use of this system in relation to a user calling up a document, license, memo and/or a producer's agreement, it's apparent that this patent could easily apply to a future iPhone."

An iPhone would be another addition to the Apple-branded arsenal of products the company has designed to serve customers in seemingly every facet of their lives. Last month, the company debuted an Internet Television (iTV), set to hit stores in January, which will allow consumers to view iTunes and other content on their televisions via a Wi-Fi link to their personal computers.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company is wise to focus on continuing product innovation, as it faces no shortage of competition. Sony Corp., KDDI Corp., SanDisk Corp. and Microsoft Corp. with its Zune are all vying to take a bite out of Apple's consumer electronics stronghold, announcing the debuts in recent months of MP3 players made to rival the iPod.

By: DocMemory
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