“The notables within this group include battery assembly and motion sensing management for the iPhone along with patents for Apple’s OS X Dashboard, AppleScript and Universal Dock,” Purcher reports. “Yet the one granted patent that was a standout today by far was one covering Apple’s work on a new ‘Light Display.'”
Purcher reports, “The patent reveals a new contemplated light-reflecting structure that would be built right into the bezel of a device like the iPad to better detect touch from a finger or new light-pen.”
Full article, complete with Apple’s patent application illustrations, here.
“light-pen”?
@NHL Maybe an optional, capacitive stylus for those moments when a finger is simply too large?
I could only imagine using a cool light pen with my iPad 2 at the office. Bring it on. For business and business doodling for rough idea drawings I’d love a pen over my finger drawings any day. Whether Apple wants to work at earning the enterprise business is another matter though. I don’t think that they have the balls.
“…and motion sensing management ” this is the most interesting part, that means that almost all iphone wanna be are infringing apple pattens and they are going to die.
NHL: i thought so too.
Still, the tip of a pencil is smaller than that of a finger. Pressure sensitive screen, of course. For instance, if you’d like to write a letter by hand: unique and personal, but immediately digitized. Remember those calligraphy classes Jobs sat in on.
Sometimes companies do research and obtain patents to prevent others from using certain technology. The application for and issuance of a patent doesn’t necessarily indicate anything about what Apple intends to put into a product. They do a lot of research. This may be something they have decided isn’t as good as what they are building, but patenting it will prevent others from using it to work-around other interface patents they have for the superior method.
In short, this is interesting, and shows how much research Apple does, but its value towards predicting future products by Apple is very low. Then again, acknowledging that somewhat undermines the purpose of the site (patentlyapple.com), doesn’t it?
@ Kroni. Every company patents defensive patents along with everything else they’re doing because they’re not sure what products will eventually fly. But a note on the original report comments points to Apple likely acquiring these patents which would indicate that Jobs and company obviously wanted to have a digital pen option open to them.
But let’s face it. Every new Apple product introduced is patented to the hilt. Jobs said in 2007 that 200 patents were behind the original iPhone, alone. Suffice to say that Apple patents stuff that is on the table to be real products and not this pie in the sky stuff that you’re alluding to. So while a lot of patents may be research,, they’re at least documents from Apple that we could learn from and not just rumors of the day cranked up for the sake of clicks.
Dashboard? Applescript? The Dock? Is the patent office that slow or is Apple that slow?
Hey Cubert, good one. If the USPTO is too fast, everyone complains that Apple is recieving favor. If the USPTO is too slow, we complain that they’re idiots. Let’s keep blaming the patent office, it’s more fun that way.
@Cubert
remember that the Patent office doesn’t just rubber-stamp anyone’s idea submitted for a patent. they do take time to make sure someone’s patent doesn’t infringe on another patent, etc.
Or some frivolous patent that shouldn’t be awarded. And it gives time for arguments for and against a patent. Like MS trying to Patent the “App Store”. oh wait…
The Multi touch patents for the iPhone took what 5 years if i remember right. filed 2 years before the iPhone was released.
the Patent process is meant to be slow and thorough. That’s not always the case… but that is how it was designed to work.
From looking at that one drawing, it would seem that the system would be able to tell how far away from the surface a finger (or pen) is. What would the possibilities be if this can be used for a 3-D type of system? Is it crazy to think that as the finger approaches the surface, something happens, like pushing a file or folder to the background?