“The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 35 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple.
“In this particular report we cover Apple’s second granted patent in the last year regarding the detection and processing of multi-touch events (the touching of fingers or other objects upon a touch-sensitive surface at distinct locations at about the same time) and hover events (the no-touch, close proximity hovering of fingers or other objects above a touch-sensitive surface but outside the near-field detection capabilities of touch sensors),” Purcher reports. “”
“Apple’s patent also hints of a virtual keyboard,” Purcher reports. “Apple notes that ‘One or more proximity sensors can be used to implement the function of ‘pushing’ virtual buttons appearing on the touch panel (in some embodiments with an audible confirmation) and trigger functions without actually making contact with the touch panel.’ In 2012 Apple advanced their work on a virtual keyboard.”
Read more, and see Apple’s patent application illustrations, in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Reminds us of:
Wow! I can’t wait to purchase this product. Any details of shipping schedules?