This Week's Apple Rumors, Ranked From Dumbest to Most Plausible

Each week, there are dozens of Apple rumors, reports, and patent filings that hint at what's coming out of Cupertino next. Some are legit, but most are totally bogus. This week, the rumor mill was pretty quiet, but Apple's intellectual property filings offered some interesting insights. As always, we've parsed the week's rumors, ranking them in order from 'utterly ridiculous' to 'duh, of course.' First up...

ASK AGAIN LATER: Apple Working on a Head Mounted Display Apple patents offer a tantalizing glimpse at the ideas the company is currently entertaining. An interesting one granted this week took the form of a head-mounted display system. Originally developed in 2006, it's a lot like the Oculus Rift gaming headset, but could also take the form of ski or motorcycle goggles. According to the patent, gaming would be a primary purpose of the device, but it could also pair with an iPhone or Apple TV to deliver HD video content. Interestingly, this patent was filed only under the names of the inventors and was not tied to Apple. Could this be something Apple is working on in super stealth mode?

SIGNS POINT TO YES: Apple Acquisition Includes 3D Tech That Could Be Used for iTV Apple recently acquired an Israeli company called PrimeSense, which works on 3D sensor technology. Apparently, some of PrimeSense's intellectual property, which Apple now owns, could be applied to an Apple television. One patent for a 3D User Interface would be able to use hand gestures and eye movement to control the interface. PrimeSense's technology has already been used in the Xbox Kinect, and while Apple would never confirm its motives for buying a company like PrimeSense, this does seem like a natural fit for the company - if Apple is even still working on a television. The company also had IP that could be applied in the car space, an area the Cupertino company is definitely interested in.

SIGNS POINT TO YES: Apple Investigating Curved Display for Mobile Devices We've been hearing more and more about Apple spending time working on curved glass technologies - usually related to its rumored wearable device. But a recently granted patent for a ' Curved touch sensor,' shows how Apple could efficiently produce curved touch surfaces for touch pads, touch mice, and displays, which could mean a display for a smartphone. The method Apple describes would improve over existing techniques because it wouldn't be subject to deficiencies from deformation or substrate warping (the substrate is a layer of a touchscreen display).