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Apple Awarded iPhone and Multi-Touch Patent

Think back, before SJ demo'ed the iPhone. What did cell phones look like? Basically, they added email with a keyboard to a cell phone. Nobody had touch. Apple took the chance and succeeded and now will be able to rightfully claim the results of their efforts.

Finally, SJ gets even with BG for blackmailing to acquire the Mac interface. Oh, the poetic irony of it all.
 
technocoy said:
Guess who got schooled and now wants a piece of the pie? Somebody better get to work on eye-tracking user interface before apple builds there optical sensing LCD panel.
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I recall seeing an Apple patent a while ago dealing with just such a technology:p
 
Palm Pre

Palm Pre -- As in PreMature to the marketplace 'cause we couldn't afford better patent lawyers. Oh well, guess we'll have to pay them now...
 
happydude said:
no reason apple should fork over their hard work in the name of copy cat competition. other phone makers should get off their asses and create something to compete.
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Agree. Multitouch was there for the taking until Apple took it. After this event (creating something out of nothing, i.e. multitouch), then Apple is a monopoly that inhibits competition. Go figure. :)
 
SirROM said:
Palm Pre -- As in PreMature to the marketplace 'cause we couldn't afford better patent lawyers. Oh well, guess we'll have to pay them now...
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You have no evidence that the Pre violates apples patents. It could accomplish the same result in a way different enough that its not a violation.

Some of you guys are awful quick to jump the gun.
 
Fingerworks
In 1999, Fingerworks, a Newark-based company run by University of Delaware academics John Elias and Wayne Westerman, produced a line of multi-touch products including the iGesture Pad and the TouchStream keyboard.[6] Westerman published a dissertation in 1999 on the subject. In 2005, after years of maintaining a niche line of keyboards and touchpads, Fingerworks was acquired by Apple Inc..

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-touch#Fingerworks

Apple bought them because

1. They were a couple of the pioneers in the field
2. They had actually produced products they sold (not just done some tech demos)
 
big dainjerus said:
Yeah I don't understand why anyone here would think this is a good thing. The iphone as it stands right now needs a kick in the ass by its competitors (the pre), and without them apple will rest on its laurels, take all your money in the meantime, and never put in MMS, video recording, multitasking, cut and paste etc.
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Can you cite one instance in Apple's recent history where they were goaded onward by the activities of their competitors? It's been pretty much the opposite. At times, they have seemed frighteningly unaware of what other companies are doing. For example, Apple seemed completely unaffected when Amazon announced a DRM-free music catalogue. In fact, it took Apple a damn long time to do the same. Does that look like they're being pushed forward by competition?

People keep saying this thing about Apple needing competition to keep them going, but I think it stands to reason after seeing what they've done with OS X and the Macs and iPod/iTunes that they don't map out their directions by what other companies are doing. I just don't see it. To me, it appears that they steadily evolve their products regardless of whether they are "ahead" of the competition or not. You can't really argue that they need competition per se. At no point in the history of the iPod and iTunes have they ever been seriously threatened by a competitor. And yet, Apple continues to tweak and improve and push things further.
 
kevgav said:
Fingerworks
In 1999, Fingerworks, a Newark-based company run by University of Delaware academics John Elias and Wayne Westerman, produced a line of multi-touch products including the iGesture Pad and the TouchStream keyboard.[6] Westerman published a dissertation in 1999 on the subject. In 2005, after years of maintaining a niche line of keyboards and touchpads, Fingerworks was acquired by Apple Inc..

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-touch#Fingerworks

Apple bought them because

1. They were a couple of the pioneers in the field
2. They had actually produced products they sold (not just done some tech demos)
Click to expand...

Great business move by apple. Steve had a vision, saw who could get it done, and then got them involved. Though this is pretty much standard practice in the industry.
 
inkswamp said:
Apple seemed completely unaffected when Amazon announced a DRM-free music catalogue. In fact, it took Apple a damn long time to do the same. Does that look like they're being pushed forward by competition?
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Apple cannot just jump ship on contracts that are already in place.

Also, apple almost never does what people say they NEED to do, and somehow keep bringing game changers to the market.
 
inkswamp said:
Can you cite one instance in Apple's recent history where they were goaded onward by the activities of their competitors? It's been pretty much the opposite. At times, they have seemed frighteningly unaware of what other companies are doing. For example, Apple seemed completely unaffected when Amazon announced a DRM-free music catalogue. In fact, it took Apple a damn long time to do the same. Does that look like they're being pushed forward by competition?

People keep saying this thing about Apple needing competition to keep them going, but I think it stands to reason after seeing what they've done with OS X and the Macs and iPod/iTunes that they don't map out their directions by what other companies are doing. I just don't see it. To me, it appears that they steadily evolve their products regardless of whether they are "ahead" of the competition or not. You can't really argue that they need competition per se. At no point in the history of the iPod and iTunes have they ever been seriously threatened by a competitor. And yet, Apple continues to tweak and improve and push things further.
Click to expand...

Well they need something because the current iphone is a joke
 
This is just the far-flung result of Apple's getting bit in the ass by the Microsoft case with Windows in the early 90's. They have seen it happen once...and know how bad it can turn out. Good for them for getting the rights to all of this stuff.
 
kdarling said:
Wrong.

Windows mobile phones with touch date back to circa 2000-02.

The IBM Simon, a touchscreen smartphone, was sold by Bell South back in 1993.
Click to expand...
Are we talking capacitive touch, pressure sensative touch, multi touch......

We cant just label all technologies as the same. A perfect example is the multi touch on the iphone and surface. Two VERY different methods.
 
Re: Fingerworks...

No doubt they had some input to the iPhone.

However, note that they only worked up until then with opaque surfaces. Not displays or other see-through systems.

Which makes it even more interesting that Palm produced a multi-touch gesture area below the phone screen before Apple did.
 
kdarling said:
Which makes it even more interesting that Palm produced a multi-touch gesture area below the phone screen before Apple did.
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I think apple decided that a sense of direct object manipulation is much more intuative for the GUI. Almost anyone can understand an iphone where you push the button on the screen and there you go. I can see the off screen multitouch not being quite as easy to understand/remember for those who arent very tech savvy.

Apple does a great job of providing unbeleivably easy ways to use their products, which is part of its mass appeal.
 
NT1440 said:
Are we talking capacitive touch, pressure sensative touch, multi touch......
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter in this case. If you read the post, it was a simple response to the idea that "Nobody had touch" before Apple. Apparently the poster had seen very few smartphones before.

We cant just label all technologies as the same. A perfect example is the multi touch on the iphone and surface. Two VERY different methods.
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Agreed. And there are more techniques to come from the labs. Besides the obvious ones like MS wanting to use the camera to determine motion, I've seen cool stuff like sensors along the outside of a phone so it can "see" gestures off to the sides.
 
Adokimus said:
Indeed. Don't understand why the fanboys don't get this. The iPhone would become a stagnant product without competition... and why all the hate for the Pre? It looks awesome to me. Oh, and we also like to forget that Microsoft had multi-touch in their "surface" device first... what if Apple had never been allowed to make the first iPhone because Microsoft had a patent on using more than one finger as an input device?? Grow up people. Having a monopoly is BAD!
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Apple was working on the iPhone 7 years before it's release.
 
ringmod82 said:
Apple was working on the iPhone 7 years before it's release.
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In all the histories from interviews with Jobs and others, they state that while they had an idea for getting into the phone business somehow, the iPhone engineering team was not created until around December 2005 - January 2006.

Which makes it remarkable that they got as far as they did in one year before it was shown off in January 2007. (Although a couple months before that, Jobs reportedly said "we don't have a product yet".)
 
BVeritas said:
Think back, before SJ demo'ed the iPhone. What did cell phones look like? Basically, they added email with a keyboard to a cell phone. Nobody had touch. Apple took the chance and succeeded and now will be able to rightfully claim the results of their efforts.
Click to expand...

Your post would be better if it were true. But LG beat Apple to the touch interface and look by about 6 months.

Prada_20070723101544.jpg
 
In my opinion, this should help filter out the rubbish. Following the iPhone will come a whole bunch of "me too!" phones that are horribly unpolished and simply there to steal unsuspecting customers that want the funky features without price. With royalties involved, I'd suspect that the only competitors would be a little more serious.

On top of that... royalties means more money for Apple... which means more money to further develop the iPhone.
 
PCMacUser said:
Your post would be better if it were true. But LG beat Apple to the touch interface and look by about 6 months.

Prada_20070723101544.jpg
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You mean touch input, the interface on the iphone is uniquely apples, and built entirely around ease of use, which for some reason others dont seem to grasp fully.

But yea, its ridiculous anyone thinks apple invented multi touch or were the first to bring it. They did what they always do, take technologies and make it fun and easy to use. That gives it mass appeal.
 
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