A patent application filed by Apple Computer in December 2004 appears to cover a method of buying a song, ring tone or music video from an online store over a wireless network.
The application, spotted by Macsimum News, was published Thursday on the Web site of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. It describes an invention that allows cell phone or wireless handheld users to interact with an online music store--such as iTunes--and mark a song or video file that can be downloaded to a computer at a later time.
Apple representatives could not be immediately reached for comment. The invention appears to be a way for Apple to capture revenue from music fans with short attention spans. For example, cell phone users on the go who hear a song might want to purchase that tune right away, but by the time they get back to their PC, they"ve forgotten the name of the song or the artist.