Apple is the company everyone loves to hate right now and it seems every investor has turned its back on this mighty tech giant. The biggest complaint I hear is that “Apple is being out innovated by its competitors”. And I somewhat agree. IOS was revolutionary in 2007 when it was first released and it is the reason we all have fantastic smartphones in our pockets (Android, IOS or Windows phone). Since its triumphant launch, we really haven’t seen any major changes that would drive the next evolution in smartphones.

ValueWalk has uncovered an interesting Apple patent for “situational awareness”. This is a promising technology that would allow Apple devices to perform actions automatically based on the current situation (could be location, time, etc).

The patent says “The electronic device is ready to perform the anticipated function without input from the user by using sensors to sense environmental attributes,” and  “The sensors can include an ambient light sensor, a force sensor, a temperature sensor, an ambient noise sensor, and a motion sensor.”

This is fantastic news and the kind of innovation Apple customers have been asking for. If done right, it may be a irrecoverable blow to Google Now but I doubt Google is sitting and waiting. The next 12 months will be very interesting for customers.