Apple's Plans to Enhance Touch ID with Trackpad Capabilities and Display Integration Revealed

[LordVic]

Wasn't one of the biggest knocks against Blackberry devices for all these years were the Archaic use of physical interactivity models for navigation?

One of the ones everyone harped on BBRY for was the trackpad like sensor featured on Virtually every blackberry device prior to BB10.

isn't... this exactly that? isn't this what Apple made fun of BBRY al those years for continuing to use?

Anbd now. they've asked for a Patent... for a physical sensor that acts as a trackpad.

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Ha, it was a bit of a rhetorical question. It seems like whenever stuff like this surfaces someone pops in to tell us about some obscure device that had all this technology years ago. But yet more often than not the device is either no longer in existence or the technology was abandoned because of poor implementation (like fingerprint scanners on prior phones).

I think what annoys a lot of people is that when the other companies did it... even years / decades prior. it was "gimmicky" and "bad". "terribly done", "nobody woudl ever want that"... "it's stupid, move on!"

but then when Apple announces they're "innovating" by bringing the exact same tech to their devices.
The world goes nuts that Apple is doing something all new and the world will change and peace on earth!

The problem here is. if Apple just threw the tech into the iphone 6 and had a trackpad button. People probably wouldn't make a big deal about it

But they're attmepting to patent it. This automatically implies that they believe they have come up with something and want nobody else to be able to use it.

Unfortunately in this case, having a trackpad sensor on the front face of your smartphone isn't a new concept. Apple can't make any claims to this.

 

[Retired Cat]

Well, there goes Apple's iconic home button. I'm glad to see they'll be moving on to capacative

2014, Apple reinvents the Home Button!!
and once again it is going to change everything

I also think that the mechanical Home Button will be gone very soon. Apple needs all available space to fit larger displays into a device of compact dimensions. I can't wait to see if iPhone 6 implements TouchID into the entire display!

 

[blabliblu]

I'll never buy anything with touch ID, so for the first time since the advent of the iPhone I didn't update and stayed on iPhone 5.

These monitoring technologies go way beyond what Google, Microsoft or Facebook are doing: they're literally taking your fingerprints and monitoring you from a distance, like in a cliche dystopian movie.

 

[nim81]

That's one thing I like about Google Maps on other devices. They usually have onscreen +/- buttons for one handed use.

Or used to. The latest Google Maps (on both Android and iOS) has a new hidden zoom method:

Double-tap and hold, then slide that finger up and down to zoom/unzoom.

It's a bit tricky to learn to hold down your finger on the second tap, but it works.

I never knew that, that's really useful

 

[kdarling]

I never knew that, that's really useful

You're welcome. I just wish they'd kept the +/- buttons as well. I'm not a fan of hidden gestures in UIs, unless they're a secondary shortcut method.

--

Speaking of buttons and gestures... I think that back when the iPhone came out, Apple threw the baby out with the bathwater in many respects.

• Zoom buttons are actually useful for one-handed use.
• Scrollbars are actually useful to navigate long documents quickly.
• Cursor pads are excellent for one-handed use, especially for larger screens.
• Extra programmable buttons are actually nice to have for instant app launching.

It's sad that many manufacturers followed Apple's fashion lead so much. I.e. I do miss the Incredible's optical trackpad / button sometimes. HTC should've kept it as a differentiator.

At least Apple now realizes that a Back button (or gesture) is also useful, and so is a trackpad.

History always repeats itself, but with a twist each time

 

[Gav2k]

I'll never buy anything with touch ID, so for the first time since the advent of the iPhone I didn't update and stayed on iPhone 5.

These monitoring technologies go way beyond what Google, Microsoft or Facebook are doing: they're literally taking your fingerprints and monitoring you from a distance, like in a cliche dystopian movie.

Lmao tinfoil hats anyone??

 

[scapegoat81]

Damn you Apple for keeping me thirsty for some great tech

 

[LordVic]

You're welcome. I just wish they'd kept the +/- buttons as well. I'm not a fan of hidden gestures in UIs, unless they're a secondary shortcut method.

--

Speaking of buttons and gestures... I think that back when the iPhone came out, Apple threw the baby out with the bathwater in many respects.

• Zoom buttons are actually useful for one-handed use.
• Scrollbars are actually useful to navigate long documents quickly.
• Cursor pads are excellent for one-handed use, especially for larger screens.
• Extra programmable buttons are actually nice to have for instant app launching.

It's sad that many manufacturers followed Apple's fashion lead so much. I.e. I do miss the Incredible's optical trackpad / button sometimes. HTC should've kept it as a differentiator.

At least Apple now realizes that a Back button (or gesture) is also useful, and so is a trackpad.

History always repeats itself, but with a twist each time

Moving from my old Blackberry to a Modern smartphone defintely felt like a small downgrade on a couple of these fronts. One handed operation via trackpad was one of Blackberries strongest features

and OMG, WHY have smartphone makers moved to the minimalist buttons? I miss having one or more convenience keys. is it REALLY so hard to make a dedicated camera / shutter button? one more button? really.

 

[notjustjay]

I think what annoys a lot of people is that when the other companies did it... even years / decades prior. it was "gimmicky" and "bad". "terribly done", "nobody woudl ever want that"... "it's stupid, move on!"

but then when Apple announces they're "innovating" by bringing the exact same tech to their devices.
The world goes nuts that Apple is doing something all new and the world will change and peace on earth!

Absolutely. It's just how Apple does things. They didn't coin the phrase "Reality Distortion Field" for nothing.

And Apple fans play right into it. Remember back in the months before the iPad was first announced? Everyone expected it to be a $999 slate running full OS X. "I won't buy it unless it has full OS X!" everyone said. Then rumors started to pinpoint that it would run a variation of iPhone OS and everyone was furious. "I won't buy one. I wanted OS X!" Then the iPad was released and iOS was the biggest most revolutionary thing ever. Now Microsoft is selling a $899 tablet running full Windows 8.1, and everyone is saying "A tablet that runs a full desktop OS? That's stupid! Nobody wants that!"

Steve Jobs did that with many other things. The one I vividly recall was how he trashed on flash-based MP3 players for being junky, with only enough room for a handful of songs, too small to be useful since they had no hard drive. At least, until they released the iPod shuffle...

Or "we wouldn't even know how to make a quality computer under $500", which they said repeatedly -- up until they made a Mac Mini.

 

[griz]

Me thinks it might be preparation for larger screened phones, in the aid of one-handed navigation, etc.

D.

OK, now that I could get behind. Still waiting to upgrade my Iphone4.