Apple has been granted 17 new patents by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Among the patents granted, is wireless syncing.

Patently Apple has described all 17 patents in details. One of the most interesting is for "Wireless Synchronization between a Media Player and Host Device." The patent basically allows a computer and media player to interact over a wireless connection, syncing content between the two devices.

"Although the media items of emphasis in several of the above embodiments were audio items (e.g., audio files or songs), the media items are not limited to audio items. For example, the media item can alternatively pertain to videos (e.g., movies) or images (e.g., photos)," Apple says in its patent.

The patent says that the devices will sync whenever both devices use the same wireless connection and are close together. The feature sounds similar to how iDevices sync to their laptop or desktop in iTunes when connected. The patent was filed in Q4 2004, before the original iPhone was launched, though it would be a natural extension of the syncing abilities already available.

"It's unknown at this time if Apple's invention will be for pure defensive purposes or one that ... could be used to challenge competing products. While syncing has existed for some time, it's the manner in which Apple's media manager organizes content during the synchronization process so as to automatically synchronize media content stored on the media player with media content stored on the host device that's key here. This granted patent could also support any future iCloud related patent," Patently Apple said.

Among the other patents, is one for the fourth generation iPod Shuffle, which was redesigned and released in 2010. Filed in Q3 2010, the device was released September that year. Others cover the illuminated logo on the back of MacBooks; remote content updates for mobile devices between it and a host computer from anywhere in the world, along with being able to schedule playback of different types of media. Apple says that users can only select one type of media, or playlist, currently, at a time.

(reported by Jonathan Charles, edited by Surojit Chatterjee)