In United States Patent Application #20080122796, filed on September 5, 2007 and published today, May 29, 2008, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is among those credited as inventors of “Touch Screen Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Determining Commands by Applying Heuristics.”
Apple’s Abstract:
A computer-implemented method for use in conjunction with a computing device with a touch screen display comprises: detecting one or more finger contacts with the touch screen display, applying one or more heuristics to the one or more finger contacts to determine a command for the device, and processing the command. The one or more heuristics comprise: a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a one-dimensional vertical screen scrolling command, a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a two-dimensional screen translation command, and a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a command to transition from displaying a respective item in a set of items to displaying a next item in the set of items.
The full patent application including links to illustrations is here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Litigator” for the heads up.]
Looks like you may have just be screwed Microsoft, by Apple, Ha Ha Ha.
@Martin
The patent application was applied for on September 5, 2007.
Microsoft has already tried to pirate this idea for Windows 7. It is time for Apple to take down the evil giant and tie up Windows 7 in court.
Doesn’t the same go for Google and Android?
This is what I have loved and continue to love about Apple-they see a great idea like touch and actually do something innovative and useful with it. Did anyone else watch the demo of Windows 7? It’s even more OS X than Vista tries to be, and once again, new hardware is required to use any of the new features. I’m wondering if Apple will add some of this functionality right into Leopard via updates . . .
Apple’s kung fu will still beat the Big A$$ Table & W7’s best attempt. Sorry Zune Tang it’s past time to surrender! ;P
M$ will likely copy it “upside down and backwards.” It would be cool if a system of gesture commands worked out by Apple could become the industry standard. In order for that to be the case Apple would have to be willing to license the “language.” If not, there may be different versions out there creating a further barrier to switching systems.
Then again, it may take M$ ten years to get the product out. I would not count on that. Ray Ozzie may get a team of “crack engineers” together and get it done.
It is hard to imagine a day when 80% of the personal computer market buys an Apple machine. This is roughly the case now with iPods. It seems more likely that there will be competing devices with touch interfaces.
A law suit to enforce patents could drag on for a decade. It seems unlikely a judge would enjoin M$ from selling its version while litigation progresses. There will probably be two or more touch systems on the market.
A strategy to make the Apple system the dominant one should be developed.
MikeK With all due respect, the patent application was filed on
September 5, 2007, the Patent was granted on May 29, 2008.
The Patent would not have been granted if Microsoft or any other
company had filed prior art with respect to the Apple application.
So again looks like Microsoft is screwed on Windows 7 with a touch
screen interface.
This Patent will not affect the Microsoft Touch Table, thats a whole different ball game.
Martin, “This Patent will not affect the Microsoft Touch Table, thats a whole different BALL GAME.”
That ‘big ass’ table is big enough for table soccer, or mini bowling.
@ NotBill
It’s not just about getting the product out the door though. Multi-touch is a whole new paradigm.
Fingerworks, who produced all this stuff before Apple and was bought out by Apple, had working multi-touch displays and peripherals years ago but no one bought them much because it was an impossibly strange new way of working at the time.
Apple is very carefully introducing multi-touch on a graduated basis. Get used to one gesture, then introduce another, etc. They are rationally, and very deliberately dragging us all along with them as opposed to just pumping out some whiz-bang product that does it all, but that no one understands. This is why they didn’t (so far) just chuck all the multi-touch gestures they already developed into the OS. It will be a gradual evolution, which will give folks a chance to *learn* how to do this multi-touch thingie.
Stuff like this is what MS simply doesn’t understand, because they don’t understand how to design a product, or in fact know much of anything about consumers in general.
TRhe application describes a super iPhone and might be describing the one being launched in a few weeks! It confirms the use of a video camera for video telephone functionality:
[0112]The device 100 may also include one or more optical sensors 164. FIGS. 1A and 1B show an optical sensor coupled to an optical sensor controller 158 in I/O subsystem 106. The optical sensor 164 may include charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) phototransistors. The optical sensor 164 receives light from the environment, projected through one or more lens, and converts the light to data representing an image. In conjunction with an imaging module 143 (also called a camera module), the optical sensor 164 may capture still images or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the back of the device 100, opposite the touch screen display 112 on the front of the device, so that the touch screen display may be used as a viewfinder for either still and/or video image acquisition. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the front of the device so that the user’s image may be obtained for videoconferencing while the user views the other video conference participants on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the position of the optical sensor 164 can be changed by the user (e.g., by rotating the lens and the sensor in the device housing) so that a single optical sensor 164 may be used along with the touch screen display for both video conferencing and still and/or video image acquisition.
@Not Bill “Then again, it may take M$ ten years to get the product out. “
That’s perfect. Apple’s patent will be closer to expiration. Just need to take eight more years (I think).
@Matin “The Patent would not have been granted if Microsoft or any other company had filed prior art with respect to the Apple application”
Not necessary. US Patent office may have mistakenly granted patent without realizing existance of prior art (just too many patents out there. Cannot expect to find all prior arts), which case the earlier patent owner will have to sue to defend their patent, if they choose to do so.
I saw that same page. I’m not sure if this section about the video conferencing was included on the original iPhone patents or if this is something new? Either way it’s exciting.
Anybody want to chime in on this?
@Martin
Let’s be clear…as MDN notes…the patent application was filed September, 2007 and the application was published May 29, 2008. It has yet to be granted. Right now all Apple has a flag in the sand dated September 2007 (oh yes…and working devices in the marketplace selling in the millions). The Patent office now has to decide if this was known or would have been obvious to one of skill in the art back in Sept ’07. It could take years for this patent to issue…time during which anyone is free to practice multi-touch (assuming there are no relevant previously issued patents out their). The real value of the application (for now) is as a disincentive for others to implement their version of multi-touch.
Interesting.. the first image shows GPS module!
Political preferences aside, phantasmosxmagnum who do you think is going to call it a day first: Zune Tang or Hillary Clinton?
Oh and before anyone gets all Huffy let me remind you how trivial the election is compared to iPhone 3.0s which will vote in State and Federal elections for you! (Shareholder proxy votes will still be done on Blackberries.)
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Interesting, so I guess Microsoft also has a time machine somewhere right? Cause unless they looked into the future, and saw this patent, they had already had ideas to make a multi-touch computing unit with the Surface. Also Bill Gates also said that Microsoft intended to bring multi-touch capabilities to personal computers. Don’t automatically assume things.
“The one or more heuristics comprise: a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a one-dimensional vertical screen scrolling command, a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a two-dimensional screen translation command, and a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a command to transition from displaying a respective item in a set of items to displaying a next item in the set of items.”
Yes, I had a heuristic once… but I had my doctor remove it!
HMCIV wrote:
“Political preferences aside, phantasmosxmagnum who do you think is going to call it a day first: Zune Tang or Hillary Clinton?”
Damn! That’s tough but I’d say Hillary if you’re meaning within this year but as far as Zune Tang will he give up after M$ ceases manufacture of the Zune?