“Interestingly Apple won their first ink engine patent this past July. In that particular report you’ll be able to find other links to a tablet related patent that illustrates a classic notebook/tablet combination design. Today’s patent closely relates to their recently granted patent but provides us with a little more insight into the tablet’s future usage with apps such as pen-based notations, musical scores or even business forms,” Purcher reports.
Purcher reports, “The oddity to this patent perhaps, lies in the speed in which it became public. The patent was only filed in July of this year and published in less than three months: Is Apple in a hurry? In late September Apple rehired one of their original Newton developers Michael Tchao… In context, today’s patent data has to be added to the facts that Apple is indeed working on a new type of tablet computer that may in fact include an ink based engine that could use a stylus-like pointer.”
There’s much more, including patent application illustrations, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
The Newton Strikes Back.
Palm is toast. The Kindle just got dimmer.
Yuck.
Who
I do. I already do for Vectorworks, and I would like a portable device for visiting worksites. Not everybody will want the same thing. And it might just also be touch screen as well, knowing Steve.
If you take an iPhone’s icons to the image shown in the patent. Just double it and you get about an 8 inch or greater tablet. If you narrow the edges you get a larger than eight inch screen. Just a ruler and paper thing.
My two cents worth; plus a shakey pen.
Now *this* is worth tweeting about. More than just a rumor.
A stylus/handwriting recognition addition to a multi-touch screen would only make the tablet more versatile. It won’t be “instead” of multitouch.
If an Apple tablet were to come to fruition, it would definitely be smart to have a touch/pen hybrid with your fingers as the primary source of input.
There are stylus’ for capacitive touchscreens like the iPhone so that shouldn’t be a problem. I believe it transfers heat from the body of the pen (in your hand) to the point as it touches the screen.
I hate the stylus when it comes to something with a tiny screen like a smartphone but there are so many more things to do with a tablet. I would want stylus input as an option.
MY NEWTON LIVES!!!!!!
I don’t want to have to use a stylus. But I don’t want to try writing with my finger, either.
Stylus for text input and finger/stylus for anything else.
Gee, Apple’s almost caught up with Windows 7 for Tablets…
Much like Apple finally caught up with touch-based phones (remember, Treo was there for years), or like iPod finally caught up with other MP3 players (which existed for years).
When Apple enters existing concept, it does it right.
…”I believe it transfers heat from the body of the pen (in your hand) to the point as it touches the screen. “
No, it does not. That would be heat-sensitive surface, and iPhone is not; it is, as you said, capacitive surface. Therefore a stylus for the iPhone-type screen would have to conduct electricity between the display and the hand.
Gramar Nazi rant: by the way; stylus is singular; therefore plural is styluses, not stylus’, which could only possibly be possessive form for plural of a non-existent noun stylu.
Having handwriting recognition o. A tablet makes sense for Tlingit notes or annotating a document if you don’t want to use a virtual keyboard. Also great for signatures.
But will it be snappier than a Newton?
Grammar Nazi addendum: since Stylus comes from Latin, less common variant of plural is styli. Most definitely not stylus’, though.
I’d go for a stylee or two..
Anyone have any idea how long after apple usually files one of these patents that a product actually makes it into the channel i.e. iphone, ipod etc?
Oh now after 12 years they decide to file the patent for the Newton….
just my $0.02
Predrag: If you’re going to be a grammar Nazi, you might want to make sure you haven’t misspelled “grammar” first.
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The Kindle just got dimmer.
The Nook looks much brighter.
Now, this is good.
spj:
I know, I saw that in my first post after posting the second one… This always happens to us, grammar Nazis; we correct someone, only to mis-type something ourselves…
As for the subject at hand; Apple patents tons of stuff, many of which doesn’t see the light of day as a real product. That said, this one looks more likely than many others to actually happen, considering convergence of many other rumours and leaks.
Combination of touch and stylus is probably an excellent idea. If anyone can pull it of these days, Apple can.
Rats! “pen-based input” was spotted, and commented upon.
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So. Nobody wants to scurry down the rat-hole and argue the spelling of <u>Michael Tchao</u>’s last name? There’s at least two or three other reasonable spellings with the same pronunciation. No? How friggin sensible of you all. How about a rant on this stylus thing being Obama’s fault. C’MON … where’d the whacko twits <u>GO</u>?
It’s beginning to look like this rumor is rapidly evolving into a pending announcement. Great. Then we can get back to nonsense.
I wonder who will be the first with an exploding iTable and try to sue.
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@DLMeyer
In addition to doing/being all you mentioned, the oft-rumored tablet will also protect the sanctity of marriage…
Oh. My. God. The liberal media is foisting these capacitive styli on us just so we can’t use our God-given fingers to move things on the screen the way they were meant to be done: in steps of π=3. Obama can have my keybored when he prize it from my cold, dead fingers.
There ya go. DLMeyer.
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“The Kindle just got dimmer”
BWAahahahahahhaha…
The trash talk in here is hilarious
How many legs can Apple fit on their stool? Mac, iPod, iPhone, Slate…
I hope they have duel imput. It would be a great portable design tool.
“Who wants to use a stylus…”
I would too…. and apparently a lot of other people considering the many companies developing or selling products based on stylus based input. I personally love “touch” as it exits now, but would love to have an additional way to input notes like a virtual pen. It would eliminate paper based notepads… and if they can make the “written” text searchable, very useful compared to the old fashioned way of flipping through umpteen pages of notes to find what it is you were looking for.
I can imagine all kinds of useful applications for stylus based input. I’m sure there are developers that will come up with uses we haven’t even thought of. Then we’ll say “of course”.
@Brit:
“Duel input”? really? You may be all bellicose and all but I don’t want to fight with the device just to enter information.
Dual input though… now that could be useful for portable design!
I already use a stylus every day for graphics. I like my stylus.
The itablet should support stylus input in addition to touch.
Have any of the anti-stylus people heard of wacom?
Lots of people use the stylus everyday. It is a great tool.
The stylus rules!
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Ah, at last proof of the ‘iTablet.’ Better yet, proof that Apple have leapfrogged Microsoft’s moronic ignoring of the REQUIREMENT for handwriting recognition on such devices.
I also fully expect the ‘iTablet’ to have BOTH multi-touch and stylus capabilities, another coup over the Microsoft POS equivalent.
This device is still going to be niche oriented, IMHO, but now clearly is going to be a better device than anything similar in the market today. Kick ass Apple!
Next hurdle: Can the ‘iTablet’ prove to be the best eBook reader on the market? That’s turning out to be an increasingly popular niche all on its own.
Suggestion:
Hey Palm! Sell Graffiti for the iTablet! That would tempt me. Me = in love with Graffiti handwriting recognition on my good old reliable Palm IIIc.
Since when does it have to be JUST multitouch/finger based or JUST stylus based? Obviously using both would be better.
Ready for a chuckle?
Here is a comical (pun intended) reference to the much rumoured Apple Tablet:
http://comics.com/over_the_hedge/2009-11-14/
Enjoy…
Cheers from Oz
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