Apple was awarded a patent today for a system that would allow people to skip unwanted parts of audio and video content, reports Apple Insider.
It's US Patent #8,249,497 and it's called "seamless switching between radio and local media."
The system is designed to automatically switch between streamed content and locally stored media when commercials pop up.
The immediate application could be for podcasts and other streamed content, but the speculation points toward Apple planning something big for the living room.
Imagine never watching another television commercial again as your TV automatically switched to short videos designed to kill time while you waited for a commercial break to end. It could be a pretty killer feature.