“On May 16, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals an all-new touch sensor panel design for larger displays,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple.
“Today’s touch sensor panels are designed like a checkerboard taking on a matrix of drive and sense lines arranged in rows and columns in horizontal and vertical directions,” Purcher reports. “That may be fine for smaller touch displays but as the touch displays become larger such as those for a future MacBook or even an iMac, the current design becomes a drag on the speed of touch command execution.”
Purcher reports, “Apple’s next generation touch sensor panel is likely to take on either a web-like design or one that incorporates thick diamond-like shapes so that the user’s finger is more likely to hit the sensors faster and easier.”
Much more, including Apple’s patent application illustrations, in the full article here.
Apple still has several things up its sleeve developed under Steve Jobs. Hope to see them soon….
AND several things up its sleeve developed AFTER Steve Jobs. Hope to see them soon….
Or it could be used as a hand held controller for apps made for the AppleTV. You know, the “hobby” that Apple will not let developers make apps for.
Soon Samsung will copy it, then HTC, then Acer, then, Blackberry, and finally, Nokia. I really am ruining Micro$oft!
Then after those motherfuckers copy , people will say Apple Is doomed and running out of innovation ….. History repeat again and again .
Is there anyway to stop the THIEVES (Samsung, HTC, ACE, Blackberyy, Nokia, GOOGLE, stealing Apple’s idea?.
No because the cards are stacked in the copiers favor.
Years to get to court, numerous appeals, during witch the named products stop being produced and are replaced by new infringers that have to have their own day in court. Awards that when granted get whittled down by judges that get a % of the millions they cut off the award (My guess as there is no other reason to do it) till the Legal costs eat up all the settlement.
It takes Apple awhile to conceive a groundbreaking idea, do R&D, testing, refining, developers, etc before it ever comes to the public. New products today were conceived years ago so there’s plenty to come from Apple in the future. Steve rebuilt Apple into a great company with incredibly talented people.
interesting now who said Apple was sleeping while the competition runs laps around them?
– No one really knows what Apple shall do next.
– iOS and OSX could get a lot of amazing new functionality. – The two OSes could merge more closely in resemblance yet remain totally different beasts.
– iOS apps could become available on OSX desktop.
– AppleTV could receive the green light for games and apps
– New sensor panels could lead to iTV 4KHDTV touch techniques granting them to act like iPads.
– Apple could buy out LeapMotion (https://www.leapmotion.com) and provide it for both iTV or iMac placed within OSX.
– or how about mobile hapticons providing 3D textural feed back for touch
maybe Apple gets all these innovations done.
Are they going to come out with a Big Ass Table?
Finally a 13 inch iPad!
The proof is in transforming ideas and concepts into marketable, integrated products. Apple has a history of doing that. Apple’s competitors mostly have a history of copying and incrementally changing products that Apple brings to market. That is the fundamental difference.
I agree with those who have commented on Apple’s recent deficiencies with respect to completing and polishing the software ecosystem. Somehow, even though Apple has grown larger along with its expanding hardware and software ecosystem, it has also gotten a bit worse at maintaining and incrementally improving and synchronizing its software offerings. Things seem a little more disjointed than in the past, and that is not acceptable now that Apple’s ecosystem is worldwide with hundreds of millions of people expecting seamless online perfection.
Mich better use if cash than a useless buy back.