Apple has reportedly transferred the “AirDrop” trademark from Urban Airship, inc. – a company behind a service called AirDrop that provides marketing services to Android developers. AirDrop is the same name of a file sharing service in OS X Lion.
This means that Lion is officially one step closer to being available to us all, which is fantastic. The trademark was reportedly transferred to Apple on May 18, and officially became effective on June 9 of this year.
AirDrop is an intriguing new features that, without any setup, lets you transfer files between any two Lion-running macs that are in close proximity to each other. Craig Federighi explained it at the WWDC 2011 keynote:
When you create docouments, you often wanna share them with friends nearby. With AirDrop, it’s never been easier. Just click on AirDrop, drop the file on the picture of your friend and AirDrop takes care of the rest. You no longer have to worry about network configuration and you don’t need to keep a USB drive in your pocket.
I’m excited for many aspects of Lion, with AirDrop just being one of them, and cannot wait for its public release. Your thoughts? Sound off in the comments!
