Apple patent lets users skip radio adverts

A new patent was granted to Apple yesterday which would allow listeners to switch away from unwanted commercials or songs.

Apple described the U.S Patent as a way of “Seamless switching between radio and local media”. It means a device will allow a user listening to content from a radio station or “non-radio media or content sources” to skip past the sections they aren’t interested in, filling the gap with on-board media instead.

It will work out what listeners like and don’t like by creating a user profile, and even monitor the stream or broadcast and switch back at an appropriate time. Advertisements are amongst the types of content which can be replaced by audio stored on a device, such as iPhone and iPad.

From the patent: If the local media item playback is not complete when a desirable broadcast media item is detected, the electronic device can record or buffer the media broadcast and switch to the broadcast stream when playback of the local media item ends. The electronic device can play back from the buffered media broadcast, and jump back to the live broadcast at any suitable time, including for example if playback of a buffered media item ends as a desirable media item is broadcast.

But such a service could be years off, if it ever makes it into reality. iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices do not offer broadcast radio although it could be part of the upcoming New iPhone, rumoured to be released next month.