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wmmk

macrumors 68020
Mar 28, 2006
2,414
0
The Library.
am i the only one who thinks iPod with spotlight would be wicked?
this would be über-handy in that situation!

touch scrren, spotlight, full length movies, recorded tv from miglia mini, widescreen hd, stuff from blueray discs, bluetooth, PDA-ish applications, a bigger HD? this new iPod is sure gonna be cool! ;)
 

the.snitch

macrumors regular
Mar 24, 2004
110
4
Auckland, NZ
I also think the split style that MS uses looks better. But its a patent for the controls behind the keys, not for the Display of the keyboard. So Apple could use whatever design they want.
 

Lollypop

macrumors 6502a
Sep 13, 2004
829
1
Johannesburg, South Africa
I think apple has a one handed aproach where M$ wants a user to use both hands. If apple does a tablet with this design they will have to make it light weight and the wieght distribution must be even as well. But this is all asuming its for the iTablet ive been wanting for ages!!:D
 

generik

macrumors 601
Aug 5, 2005
4,116
1
Minitrue
Hate to say it but Apple missed the boat, Microsoft's implementation seems way more intuitive and makes more sense. You can argue till you are blue in the face but 2 hands > 1 hand anytime.
 

robert-a-hudson

macrumors regular
Apr 11, 2006
134
0
Britain
nagromme said:
As I posted last week about the thumb-arc keyboard, I don't think Apple stole MS's idea, nor vice versa. I just think great minds think alike sometimes...


I love how if microsoft release something similar to apple, its all "microsoft copy cats, cant think of anything on their own, always stealing ideas from other companies" etc

But when its the other way around...:rolleyes:
 

hrmpf

macrumors newbie
Jan 13, 2006
15
0
microsoft first?

Abstract said:
If you're only supposed to use one hand to type using Apple's design, then it this isn't as good as the Microsoft implementation of this similar idea. And yes, it seems that Microsoft came up with this first.

I'm not sure if they did come up with first- the patent application is from September 16 last year- thats before microsoft origami- right? there are some cool images in this patent- apple has spent a lot of time figuring out how to use this virtual keyboard- they HAVE to make use of it (i hope)

 

®îçhå®?

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2006
1,826
2
A couple of years ago, wasn't there a projector keyboard?? It projected light onto the table and you could use it??
 

R.Youden

macrumors 68020
Apr 1, 2005
2,093
40
I think this would be a great interface for an iPod device. Maybe have it split either side of the screen so you could use each thumb and then use your fingers as mice?
 

Analog Kid

macrumors G3
Mar 4, 2003
8,865
11,405
robert-a-hudson said:
I love how if microsoft release something similar to apple, its all "microsoft copy cats, cant think of anything on their own, always stealing ideas from other companies" etc

But when its the other way around...:rolleyes:
Do you have any idea how long it takes for a patent to issue? Years... It's not like they saw Origami and ran to the patent office. This is a bit different than OS features being released years apart.

It's entirely possible that MS found the idea in Apple's patent application and took the idea up. It's also possible that Apple saw it in an MS patent filed before this one. I don't actually know that it wasn't another inventor entirely that first hit upon the idea. Or, it could be a case of simultaneous development. I think people are being fairly straight forward about having seen it in Origami first.

As far as where it will be used, the patent doesn't mean that Apple has any plans for the the invention. Tablets and handheld devices are a fresh market and Apple may have just put a task force on carving out a piece of the IP landscape in case they decided to get into it later.

hrmpf said:
I'm not sure if they did come up with first- the patent application is from September 16 last year- thats before microsoft origami- right? there are some cool images in this patent- apple has spent a lot of time figuring out how to use this virtual keyboard- they HAVE to make use of it (i hope)
How does Apple get a patent issued in 6 months? Grrr.... Ours can take 3 years or more.
 

Analog Kid

macrumors G3
Mar 4, 2003
8,865
11,405
I wonder how well this is going to work in practice. I can imagine the frustration of having to hit 'x' just right outweighing the ease of hitting 's'.
 

0098386

Suspended
Jan 18, 2005
21,574
2,908
at first I thought "what on sweet..." but I tried a little test and it's probably easy to adapt too!

hmm.
 

Hattig

macrumors 65816
Jan 3, 2003
1,457
92
London, UK
generik said:
Hate to say it but Apple missed the boat, Microsoft's implementation seems way more intuitive and makes more sense. You can argue till you are blue in the face but 2 hands > 1 hand anytime.
Until you're making a note from a phone call.

I'd rather there was a good natural handwriting recognition so I could use it just like a pad of paper though in that case.
 

Bad Beaver

macrumors regular
Nov 27, 2003
115
0
generik said:
Hate to say it but Apple missed the boat, Microsoft's implementation seems way more intuitive and makes more sense. You can argue till you are blue in the face but 2 hands > 1 hand anytime.

Sure, but with the 1-side approach you can take use of the stylus with your other hand (pretty cool for many applications, just think about spreadsheets) or actually use the device with just one hand without a number of keys being out of reach.
 

revjay

macrumors regular
Nov 25, 2004
160
0
Beautiful Vancouver Island
Agreed

Hattig said:
Until you're making a note from a phone call.

I'd rather there was a good natural handwriting recognition so I could use it just like a pad of paper though in that case.

I'll have to agree with you on this one. I seem to remember Apple listing job opportunities for handwriting recognition software engineers...was that about a year ago? Am I dreaming this up?
 

Mr Skills

macrumors 6502a
Nov 21, 2005
803
1
It looks to me like the MS design is for using two thumbs whereas the Apple on is for using multiple fingers on a single hand.

Thus the implication is that Origami is meant to be held the same way as, say, a PSP - but the Apple one is meant to be held like a clipboard. Implies more of a tablet than a UMPC to me.
 

steelfist

macrumors 6502a
Aug 10, 2005
577
0
hope it's comfortable. i hate it when design and fashion makes life harder. a good example is high heels.
 

JGowan

macrumors 68000
Jan 29, 2003
1,766
23
Mineola TX
nagromme said:
As I posted last week about the thumb-arc keyboard, I don't think Apple stole MS's idea, nor vice versa. I just think great minds think alike sometimes.
You've got to be joking.
 

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celebrian23

macrumors 65816
Mar 12, 2006
1,186
0
Under the sun
As someone who would never use a tablet mac, this keyboard would probably never be used by me. I don't really like the one hand thing though. Ugh. :)
 

ITR 81

macrumors 65816
Oct 24, 2003
1,052
0
JGowan said:
You've got to be joking.


No he's not joking.

Either way the Apple one is a complete alphabet keyboard and the MS one is just one keyboard split up.

This looks good to me because I can type one handed playing online games and such.

I type with my right hand anyways..when I'm lazy.
 

JGowan

macrumors 68000
Jan 29, 2003
1,766
23
Mineola TX
Stealing from MS is A-OK

Well... I, for one, don't care if Apple grabbed it and nabbed it. It's about time that the shoe was on the foot. :)
 

avensis087

macrumors member
Jan 24, 2006
49
0
The Woodlands, TX
it seems like it would be implemented into a PDA sized device rather than a tablet type device because of the keystroke memory technology. more finger overlap would happen on smaller keys/screens than with larger ones, so i'm gonna let this patent point me in the direction of an Apple PDA in the future...hopefully integrated with full screen iPod....hopefully by next tuesday? :p

mr
 

~Shard~

macrumors P6
Jun 4, 2003
18,377
48
1123.6536.5321
JGowan said:
Well... I, for one, don't care if Apple grabbed it and nabbed it. It's about time that the shoe was on the foot. :)

Well, it wouldn't be the first time Apple has blatantly stolen something then. Try not to let Steve's RDF affect you too much... :cool:
 
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