On the cusp of the Apple event, new patents have been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, showing a proximity-sensing multitouch screen amongst other features. It could be a patent for today's product announcement, or The Future.

Patently Apple dug up the goods for 13 patents, all of which have been authorized by the USPTO for Apple to use, some years after Apple first filed for them. The timing is worth considering, with the closeness to today's event either being a deliberate hype tactic for whatever's announced today, or coincidental (and for future products.)

The 13 patents include an Automatic Detection of Channel Bandwidth, Color Management System,
Apparatus and Method for Rotating the Display Orientation of a Captured image, a
Video Conferencing System, Interface for Providing Modeless Timeline Based Selection of an Audio or Video File, but none are quite as telling as the Proximity Detector for Tablets.

For the full descriptions of each patent, including diagrams, mosey on over here. [USPTO via Patently Apple via Engadget]

For today's tablet launch, I just wanted to remind you how Apple launches new products. The gadgets themselves are, eh, they're OK, but the showmanship—that's the magic.

A MacRumors forums member has posted a screengrab of the iPhone Dev Portal which updated the terms and conditions yesterday (supposedly) with the line "need to update this for the 27th launch." So there'll be a new iPhone OS, hmm?

MacRumors forum member Withnail explained the screengrab he pasted on 'The Apple Tablet Rumor Roundup' thread:

"I had let my developers license lapse, and I wanted to renew it today. I noticed that the portal went down for a while with the "We'll be back soon!" placeholder.

When it was back up, I went in and renewed my account. I thought the Ts&Cs were a bit funny."

This adds further weight to Flurry Analytics' claims just days ago that they detected up to 50 different Apple Tablet-like devices testing apps, traced back to the Cupertino HQ of Apple. They were apparently running OS 3.2, suggesting the tablet would merely be a larger version of the iPhone, and not a completely different platform. [MacRumors forums via 9 to 5 Mac]

Its poor little punched-out eyes blink red with the horror of having LEDs shoved in them, every time it makes a data transfer. Video of the post-life torture after the jump.

Sad thing is, it's not even the first dead mouse to be outfitted with LED eyes 🙁 [Zackaholic's Flickr via MAKE]

Windows Mobile 7 will most definitely, positively, absolutely be shown off next month at Mobile World Congress, sez CNET. And Digitimes. Despite more conflicting stories than a Brangelina love-saga, I believe there'll be solid news next month for WinMo fans.

It wasn't going to launch until next year, then the end of this year, and then as soon as next month, but with this latest rumor comes some believable news: Microsoft is still working on the code for WinMo 7, and while it won't be completed until the end of summer, it should be included on end-of-the-year hardware.

Nonetheless, we're expecting to see some demos of the latest phone OS next month, and heaven forbid if it's hexagonal screengrabs. [CNET via Electronista]

This isn't just a mug with a barcode painted on, it's the packaging as well—the barcode can be scanned by a cashier. Designed in Britain, it should be going on sale (and scanned) shortly. [DesignBoom]

After getting bogged down in sand, and damaging its two right wheels, all is not looking good for the Mars Spirit Rover. Nasa's admitted it will be stuck in its rut for all eternity, with little hope of moving it.

Part of the massive $900m Mars Exploration Rover program, the little Spirit Rover hasn't had much luck on the planet, but Nasa is still hopeful it can collect data from the soft patch of sand it's bogged in. It's powered by the solar panels on its back, but due to the angle it's stuck in the sand, the Spirit Rover must be turned slightly to catch some valuable sun rays over the coming months of hibernation, waking up in August to start collecting information on its surroundings.

While it can't zip across Mars' surface anymore, it could still provide details on the level of movement Mars makes on its axis, which would suggest whether it contains a solid or liquid core. [BBC]

Gizmodo helm-man and keen snowman Brian nearly creamed his pants when he heard about RealSki's augmented reality iPhone app, and rightly so—the app uses the camera, accelerometer, compass and GPS to map ski-trails of over 80 US mountains.

You'll need to be running at least OS 3.1.2 on your iPhone 3GS to use RealSki, and to make it work you move the phone around you on the ski-trail, so it can map the location. Then, digital overlays will appear within the app, showing you where the lifts, lodges, restrooms and restaurants are, as well as trails (and their level of skill) and any other parks or features of that resort.

The free download will provide maps for five of the major resorts, but if you're going off-piste and need other maps, you can purchase additional ones (there's 80 available) from within the app. Here's hoping the RealSki app is intelligent enough to bolt you to the chair lift when you decide to conquer the difficult Black Diamond course. [RealSki on iTunes]

Google may've delayed the launch of two Samsung and Motorola Android phones last week, but if you speak to the Chinese government, they have no problems with Google (their free-speaking arch-nemesis) offering their wares in the country. [Reuters]

We're about 12 hours away from seeing the thing for real, away from the speculation and leaks, but these two photos popped up just a few minutes ago. We don't know if it's real, but it's definitely possible.

So here's what we can see in these photos, sent by a tipster to Engadget: A tablet in the general form of an iPhone, including the trademark home button, looking like it's encased in some kind of S&M leather case with snaps. It's running what seems to be a larger, scaled version of the iPhone's Google Maps app. In the upper left, it looks like it says "No Service," which would be referencing 3G (also a ha! moment for AT&T, if it uses AT&T) as well as a Wi-Fi logo. Very little else can be ascertained, including the most important pieces of the puzzle, the software and keyboard.

Is it real? It's the most likely suspect in my mind, not least because it only popped up the night before the event—Apple's security is so tight that this is the most leakable time. But it is, right now, unconfirmed.

Stay tuned until tomorrow, when we'll be liveblogging the Apple event from San Francisco. [Engadget]

Bill Donahue made a trip to the headquarters of SkyMall, purveyors of the most useless gadgetry in the western world (good luck competing with Brando). My favorite part of the article? SkyMall's president is named Christine Aguilera. Ha!

It is kind of an interesting piece, though—SkyMall doesn't make, design, or even (to my surprise) ship products. They just pick and choose their favorites and assemble them into a magazine, and maybe provide some customer service. Mostly, the piece is a portrait of a company that could not be in a worse industry during a recession: Sharper Image and Circuit City have already bit the dust, and SkyMall's profits are way down. But there is a very cheerful-sounding guy working there, and I like their rationale for dismissing a USB-powered air-conditioned shirt:

"You have to unplug it to get up and go to the printer?" Downey said, vaguely incredulous. "I vote no."

"It's a geek shirt," said McCoy. "It wouldn't sell."

Good call, SkyMall. [WorldHum]

Lexon recently announced a new line of sustainably powered gadgets that are decidedly down to Earth. That is, they're made from bamboo and maize bio-plastics. And let me tell you, corn has never looked better.

If you're in the market for a new calculator, alarm clock, or FM radio, why wouldn't you want it to be made from corn and bamboo? Especially when it looks this handsome.

Not only are the devices made with sustainable materials, they're powered sustainably too: the clocks grab up energy from the sun and the radio has a fold-out crank to get its juice. From the looks of things, that radio doubles as a portable speaker for MP3 players and the like. Just don't bring it around any pandas. [Core77]

If there's anything technology has been driving towards, it's the innovation that allows corpses to wink. Finally! But don't worry, there's a use for this for people other than flirty necrophiliacs.

You see, these electroactive polymer artificial muscles use soft acrylic or silicon layered with carbon grease to contract like muscle tissue when it gets a little jolt. It's being tested on cadavers, but the hope is that it'll eventually allow paralyzed folks to blink as well. They're hoping to get it to patients within five years. [UC Davis via Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery via Engadget]

Before being sentenced to life in prison for first-degree homicide, Kevin Singer was an avid fan of tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons. His appeal to unban the game in prison failed though, so he won't be rolling anymore d10s.

Apparently officials at Wisconsin Waupun prison feel that D&D "promoted gang-related activity and was a threat to security." They originally banned the game back in 2004—after another inmate expressed "concern about Singer and three other inmates forming a "gang" focused around playing the game."

Singer has since then attempted to appeal that decision on the grounds that it "violated his free speech and due process rights." He lost his lawsuit in federal court and all of his D&D-related materials—including a 96-page scenario manuscript—were confiscated. [Oakland Tribune via Boing Boing]

Picture by Thomas Roche

Bill Gates is about the most mild-mannered and genuinely nice, um, unbelievably rich head of a multinational monolithic corporation that you could imagine. So why is Jon Stewart antagonizing him with anti-Zune and pro-iPhone barbs? Oh, right. Because it's funny.

Warning: Clips are from Hulu, which means they're US-only. Sorry, foreigners, but, well: U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Last night's The Daily Show featured Bill Gates as a guest; great choice, except for a little awkwardness early on when one of Jon Stewart's bits included a casual reference to iPods. On the plus side, Jon learned that "Zuuuuune" is a fun word to say. The setup: President Obama has been feeling "detached" from everyday Amurricans, but his attempts to ingratiate himself haven't gone that well:

Bill was good-humored about the whole thing though; after all, this is Jon's mistake. Evidently he doesn't read my reviews, that I work so hard on, because if he did he'd know that the Zune HD is great, a far cry from the punchline the Zune line once was. Thanks a lot, Jon. Way to make me feel small. My insecurities aside, Jon later asked Bill if his retirement opened him up to new opportunities, like, say, owning a certain extremely popular smartphone:

When will this Microsoft/Apple war end, Jon? It's like the Israelis and Palestinians, except in every way. [Hulu]

GeoHot, one of the fathers of the iPhone's jailbreak community, has just released the exploit that'll unleash all sorts of promising PS3 hackery, just like he promised. We can't wait for the homebrew and, frankly, piratical features this enables.

From the source:

This is the coveted PS3 exploit, gives full memory access and therefore ring 0 access from OtherOS. Enjoy your hypervisor dumps. This is known to work with version 2.4.2 only, but I imagine it works on all current versions.

You can find it at his page for now—try it out, let us know how it works! [GeoHot via Kotaku—Thanks Richard!]

Can't check our liveblog of Apple's Tablet Event tomorrow? Don't worry, we'll be updating our Facebook and Twitter pages with the breaking news. If you're not already a Gizmodo Fan or Follower, getting into it is super easy, just follow the links below:

Gizmodo @ Facebook

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Our live coverage of the Apple Tablet launch event starts at 1pm ET/10am PT, Wednesday, January 27, 2010 and both our Twitter and Facebook pages will start updating as soon as news breaks.

Even though well be updating our Facebook and Twitter pages with the most breaking apple noes, the best way to follow our live coverage is still our liveblog. For more info on how to tune in please see our Apple Tablet Event Liveblog announcement or hit live.gizmodo.com tomorrow morning.

This looks so much like Mars I can almost see the Rover in the background. But it's not another planet—it's one of a series of incredible small-scale models by artist Matthew Albanese. Wait until you see the volcano.

Albanese calls the series "Strange Worlds," although the strangest thing about them is the materials they're made from: paprika, nutmeg, cotton— even a stream made from an outdoor patio table.

To achieve such life-like images, he leans heavily on the photographic technique and viewing angle:

Every aspect from the construction to the lighting of the final model is painstakingly pre-planned using methods which force the viewers perspective when photographed from a specific angle. Using a mixture of photographic techniques such as scale, depth of field, white balance and lighting I am able to drastically alter the appearance of my materials.

Amazingly pretty, and pretty amazing. Even more shots can be seen here. [Strange Worlds via The Awesomer]

In 1924, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine set off to become the first men to climb Mount Everest. Among the gear they packed was a Vest Pocket Kodak camera. They disappeared. Today, a search for their camera could rewrite history.

It was nearly thirty years later, in 1954, that Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay successfully scaled Everest and won history's distinction as the first mountaineers to do so. But Mallory and Irvine's fate remained a mystery, and the possibility that they reached the summit endured. Mallory's body was found in 1999 but didn't provide any conclusive answers on the fate of his expedition.

Now, Everest historian Tom Holzel believes he has pinpointed the location of Andrew Irvine's body, showing up as an "oblong blob" on high-resolution photographs of the mountain. Recovering Irvine's body might mean recovering his Kodak camera, as well as the film that could fill in the blanks on their historic climb.

Holzel plans to launch an expedition to investigate the blob and, he hopes, recover the camera next month. In the event they do find the 90 year old Vest Pocket Kodak, Holzel has prepared an extensive guide on how to handle the very delicate, very important gadget. [Scientific American via Boing Boing]

Book publishers' last-minute negotiations with Apple revealed by the WSJ: Apple is pushing for bestsellers to cost $12.99 or $14.99—and some books $9.99—with Apple taking a 30 percent cut, like iPhone apps. Publishers set the ultimate price, though.

Despite the higher price to customers, selling books through Apple could actually make less money per book for publishers than through Amazon, who sells a number of bestsellers for $10 by taking a loss (paying the publisher, say, $15). Amazon's latest scheme does look more like Apple's, where publishers want 70 percent of the revenue, but book prices are capped at $10. And it's the $10 pricepoint that's the problem for publishers, both philosophically and practically: They want people to believe books are worth more than $9.99, and they want to set the prices themselves.

On a smaller note, the WSJ says that HarperCollins is trying to wedge its way into the starting up lineup tomorrow (though don't expect to be blown away by what they show). McGraw-Hill, who was pretty gabby about the tablet earlier today, won't be showing anything. And, like we and others, notably Peter Kafka, have said, the WSJ says most publishers are in fact still in the dark about most of the tablet's details, from development to pricing to distribution.

Amazon vs. Apple. Should be a fun show to watch, though if it goes like music, we already know who's going to win. I wonder if the publishing industry should be quite so keen on that. [WSJ]