Apple files for Grand Central trademark
updated 10:50 am EST, Tue December 9, 2008
Grand Central trademark
Working through the US Patent and Trademark Office, Apple has filed for a trademark on Grand Central, a technology expected to be used in Mac OS X Snow Leopard, due sometime next year. Not to be confused with Google's phone management system, the Apple technology is intended to aid developers in supporting multi-core processors, which can often be underexploited even in high-end software such as games and rendering tools.
Apple describes Grand Central as making multi-core support easier to implement, by virtue of making the whole of Mac OS X multi-core aware. Tasks are optimized for distribution across several processors, and Macs should further see a performance boost through OpenCL compatibility. The standard allows conventional software access to the GPUs on video cards, which typically only see their performance maximized in the course of running intense 3D programs.
In related news, Apple has been granted three patents connected to the the iPhone, iPod and optional In-Ear Headphones. The first two detail the packaging used for Apple handhelds, while the third describes the headphones' input mechanism.
Google
12/09, 12:45pm reply
may have something to say about that...
greenG4
Grizzled Veteran
Joined: Aug 2002
Re: google
12/09, 02:52pm (1 reply) reply
Doubt it. One's a phone service. The other is a programming API. Not much confusion.
The real question would be why Apple feels it is necessary to name, let alone trademark a name, an under-the-hood OS feature?
testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Re: Re: google
12/09, 04:27pm reply
"The real question would be why Apple feels it is necessary to name, let alone trademark a name, an under-the-hood OS feature?"
Is Core Audio, Core Video, Core animation, Bonjour, named and or trademarked?
koolkid1976
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: May 2003
Re: Google
12/10, 08:24am reply
Don't know why, it was a train station before anything else.
Roehlstation
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Re: google
12/10, 08:27am reply
Bonjour is trademarked. Not sure of the others.
But none of that answers a question. Do users (actual users, not developers) actually go around talking about "Oh, man, Snow Leopard's got Grand Central!". Macgeeks do, because they'll talk about anything in a mac. But real users wouldn't even know it exists, and could really care less. h***, most wouldn't even know what it gives them except "Its supposed to make some things faster"
testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001