Apple has been granted a patent (number 8,230,360) for an user interface for selecting from a media collection. It apparently involve the interface of Apple’s set top box, the Apple TV.

Among other things, techniques and systems are disclosed for providing a graphical user interface (GUI) to user. A system includes a content source and a GUI communicatively connected to the content source.

The GUI includes a user input area to receive user input and a display area to display available content items from the content source based on the received user input. The display area includes a presentation of the available content arranged in one or more rows. Each row includes a user selectable area to display at least one visual indication that represents one or more of the available content items.

Each row includes a holding area to display another visual indication that represents other available content items not displayed in the user selectable area. The display area includes highlighting positioned over one of the available content items.

The inventors are Jeffrey Ma, Gregory Dudey, Rachel Clare Goldeen, Justin Henzie and Rainer Broderson.

Apple has also been granted a patent (number 8228047) for a dynamically changing cursor for an user interface. It involves Mac OS X. Per the patent, adynamic cursor for a computer graphical user interface changes according to the processing state of applications over which the cursor is located, or with respect to an operating system element.

A normal cursor is displayed when either the operating system element, or an application over which the cursor is located, can be accessed in a normal manner. A standard wait cursor is displayed over busy applications that require a user to wait until interacting with the application, when the application is active in the foreground of the computer system.

When the application is busy and operating in the background, a hybrid wait cursor is displayed that indicates to the user the busy state of the application and the user’s ability to interact with operating system elements or other applications regardless of this busy state. Other forms of hybrid cursors are disclosed that indicate the results of a drag operation, and quantitative data pertaining to objects being dragged. Imran A. Chaudhri is the inventor.

Finally, Apple has won a patent (number 8230358) for defining motion in a computer system with a graphical user interface. Also invented by Chaudhri, some embodiments of the invention provide a method that defines movement in a graphical user interface (GUI) of a computer. This method detects an interaction between a cursor and a first object in the GUI. Based on this interaction, the method moves a second object in the GUI.

In some embodiments, the movement of the second object is a rotational movement within the GUI. In other embodiments, the second object’s movement is a translation movement, such as a rectilinear translation movement or a curvilinear translation movement. Also, in some embodiments, the second object relates to a special effect that is applied to another object in the GUI. For instance, in some embodiments, the second object is a shadow of a third object in the GUI.