Apple Applies for 'Audio Hyperlinking' Patent

What's This?

By Vignesh Ramachandran2013-08-12 14:23:58 UTC

Apple has filed a patent application in the United States for a new kind of hyperlink: an audio one.

The patent could enable building audible or inaudible audio hyperlinks into apps for playback on podcasts and TV shows or for in-store sales, as Patently Apple noted. Apple's official patent application states that these audio hyperlinks would give listeners a way "to access linked resources."

The hyperlink may be conditionally traversed upon a user interaction or automatically upon detection in the audio stream, possibly pausing the audio stream containing the hyperlink during the traversal of the hyperlink and resuming the audio stream if the audio stream is returned to from the linked material. The linked material may be other audio content, but may also be any other type of desired content that may be accessible by the system processing the audio stream.

See also: 7 iPhone Concepts That'll Make You Salivate

If you need a refresher, a traditional hyperlink is snippet of online text that links to related content or information. For example, this hyperlink brings you to a page listing all of Mashable's stories related to Apple.

As explained in the video above, audio hyperlinks could function like music identification app Shazam, bringing you to a website when your phone "hears" an ad. This could also be prompted with an inaudible cue, according to the patent.

When Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple files a patent, techies takes notice. But we have no sense of time frame on this technology or whether Apple will even further pursue the concept.

Do you think audio hyperlinking would make your life easier? Let us know in the comments.

Homepage image: Alosh Bennett

Topics: apple, Apps and Software, hyperlink, Newsy, patents, Tech