Dual Swingarm iMac G5?

[Peyote]

That's true. Maybe our scale is off on this whole thing, and the pyramid part goes against the wall. Then the "display" section is really only about 3"x5" and is the VESA attachment meant for the new cinema displays.

exactly. That's what my guess is. There doesn't even necessarily have to be a "pyramid" part, but this could be some VESA arm for attaching to a well, desk, or even a ceiling, which could explain the possibility of a rotating display. this is all pure speculation of course.

Wouldn't it be trick if when you rotated the display 180 degrees, the image flipped...my camcorder does this, and it's usefor for flipping the screen around 180 degrees to show someone something on the screen...you would move the display on a 180 degree arc towards the back of the mac...and the image would flip. Ok, enough wild guessing for now.

 

[Peyote]

I'm not sure about when the photo was put on the site, I just now less than an hour ago ran across it by accident. The 20th Aug. 04' date can be a re-uploaded image of the past, or this may very well be a brand new image. I dunno?

Also look at the edges of the computer in that photo. iMac G4's have a clear edging around them about an inch or so wide, like a boarder. I don't see a clear border around the LCD. But it might just be the quality of the picture?

I can actually see the clear border in the photo

 

[JoePike]

Fueling Confusion

Well, after the faked spy pics from Paris, and seeing this, I'm just not sure what to expect out of this new G5 iMac. If this patent is the real deal, it sure puts Think Secret's specs to bed in a hurry. If their inside source didn't even have the case design right, we can't be expected to believe any of the tech specs that went along with it. Personally, I kinda like this, because the conflicting reports have me off-balance enough where I'll be surprised whatever it looks like!

-Joe

 

[lipids]

I'm sorry, but this looks horrible to me : not an improvement at all

I hope this piramid scheme is not true.

OK, to all you folks unhappy with this hypothetical pyramid shape, GET REAL! Your prefer a spagetti strainer? The iBoob has always looked completly dumb. Almost any other shape would be an improvement.

 

[wymer100]

Hey I just went on the Apple-Expo site to look at some info on the Apple-Expo in Paris tomorrow, and look at the pic that's on there site... Doesn't this swivel double hinge arm look like the ones in the drawings for the patent?

I blew it up some to get a better look at the hinges:

Here is the link of the page for Apple-Expo that I found the image on:
http://www.apple-expo.com/uk/solutions_trails/

It doesn't have the pyramid base, but it looks like it has the same hinges maybe?

Cool. Look at all the Ferrari F1 stuff in the background. Go Michael Schumacher!

 

[wPod]

yuck! everything looks cool except the pyrimid base. . . i think they just threw that in as a generic base. .. but what do 2 swing arms do that one cant? that doesnt make much sense. unless its designed to attach to a wall and not a computer base. . . so the screen/computer/tablet device could just snap off the wall mount. . . . hmmmmmmmmm

 

[CholEoptera36]

I can actually see the clear border in the photo

Maybe it's just my eyes, or my sucky CRT. But the edges look rather rounded off in the larger photo. Take a closer look, you can see light around the edges of the white LCD. Makes it look rounded off in a way to me.

 

[iMeowbot]

I do not know when exactly it was filed, but there is a big difference between filing and being granted for a patent...and in addition there is usually between 10 and 18 month between both steps!!

We do know when it was initially filed, that information gets included in the patent.

Division of application No. 29/153,044, filed on Nov. 8, 2001

This design dates from before the iMac G4.

 

[Peyote]

Maybe it's just my eyes, or my sucky CRT. But the edges look rather rounded off in the larger photo. Take a closer look, you can see light around the edges of the white LCD. Makes it look rounded off in a way to me.

The clear part is very hard to see, but it you look right above the end of the huge ass camera, you can make out the faint edge of the clear part.

 

[Peyote]

We do know when it was initially filed, that information gets included in the patent.



This design dates from before the iMac G4.

Are you talking about the date for the patent in question? The earliest date on this patent is Oct 03, there is a link to another patent for the original design showing the iMac g4, dated 2001

 

[CholEoptera36]

The clear part is very hard to see, but it you look right above the end of the huge ass camera, you can make out the faint edge of the clear part.

Ah I see it now. And it might be light comming through the clear part that makes the white outline shine brighter on the top too. That could explain why it looks like a rounded dimension to me. But I can definitely see the clear too now.

The hinge is still the bigger issue to me though. Is that double hinge or single?

 

[agentkow]

I'm not sure about when the photo was put on the site, I just now less than an hour ago ran across it by accident. The 20th Aug. 04' date can be a re-uploaded image of the past, or this may very well be a brand new image. I dunno?

Also look at the edges of the computer in that photo. iMac G4's have a clear edging around them about an inch or so wide, like a boarder. I don't see a clear border around the LCD. But it might just be the quality of the picture?

In the blown up one, you can definitely see the clear edging.

If that's the new iMac, that huge screen in the background must be part of the new G5 Powerbook.

 

[Peyote]

By the way....this patent also references among other such as the G4 iMac patent, a patent for a "Detachable Display."

Although Apple doesn't hold this patent themselves...surely there is a possibility that this is significant.

The patent is number 6304431 in the list...and here's the link:

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-...&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN/6304431


Only thing is, the detachable display patent references a notebook computer, but Apple could be using the patented technology, which is why there might be a reference.

 

[Peel]

... but what do 2 swing arms do that one cant? that doesnt make much sense. unless its designed to attach to a wall and not a computer base. . . so the screen/computer/tablet device could just snap off the wall mount. . . . hmmmmmmmmm

Exactly. Here's a version of a VESA mount done by Herman Miller. Compared to this the Apple one would be downright beautiful.

 

[mrwilly123]

They are not going to launch a new processor in their consumer machines (which have been lagging in the sales department for a couple of years) without making the whole machine seem new, fresh and sexy!

wrong-they made the transition from the last rev ibook g3 to ibook g4 without a single cosmetic change...

i think with the current ibook and imac, if apple wants to retain the simplicity and smoothness...there are not many changes to be made. but apple has some incredible industrial design...so i won't underestimate

 

[Zoboomafoo]

yeah, this is a divisonal of a different application. and an OLD one at that.

there's a second patent related to this that shows the double arm on the half dome, so dont get TOO excited about a new triangle form factor.

i just started at the PTO so don't wanna say much more just in case someone somehow finds out who i am. but there might be more to this than what the public knows.

your friendly patent examiner

 

[dbasskin]

Far-Fetched ... BUT!

I agree with those who have said that the pyramid iMac looks unilkely. No, what I'd really say is that it looks ridiculous. It looks like what computers would look like if US product designers of the early 1970's would be creating if they were at work today. Except it would be covered by fake wood Mac-Tac.

BUT!

That landscape/portrait screen rotation thang is a very good idea. All kinds of flat panel LCD's today offer this feature and Pivot software on the PC supports screen rotation under Windows XP. The only hardware on the Mac (well, maybe until tomorrow, that is) supporting rotation is the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (with its supporting Versavision software). (See: http://www.atitech.com/products/radeon9800/radeon9800prome/features.html) That card is a royal pain in the ass to install in a G5 and, of course, is irrelevant from an iMac perspective.

Ironically, the Mac was (duh) the first computer to support rotating monitors. Old hands will remember huge monitors from Radius - first in monochrome, then in colour - that rotated. They had mercury switches in them that could sense their orientation, then feed that back to the proprietary video boards that drove them. A proprietary control panel managed the software interface. Very impressive stuff, circa 1984-85, I think.

So ... who knows what tomorrow will bring, but more generalized OS-level support for monitor rotation would be a very good thing. Will it happen? Well ... doubtful, I think. After all, those snazzy new aluminum-encased LCD's don't rotate.

 

[CholEoptera36]

Found a pic of the back of the G4 iMac. Comparing the two, I think I've changed my mind now. This looks like nothing more than a G4 iMac. The red circle around the connection of the arm to the LCD makes it look like there's shadow, looks like another hinge in a way. But when you take a good look at comparing the two, it looks like an old G4 iMac now.

 

[azdude]

Everyone keep in mind...

...this is a patent for the Swing Arm only, which means that the pyramid-design base is most likely a nonsense placeholder (or that, in the most "optimistic" interpretation, it should be taken lightly, as the base design doesn't need to be remotely accurate for the patent.)

 

[rdas7]

Why would they use a double hinge design like that? The previous model worked just fine, that would be an unnecessary addition to the old design. Also it looks like the double hinges would give the LCD less support.

Absolutely... this looks more like Apple filed a patent for both designs before settling on the single-arm/dome design that they finally shipped. They were probably just covering their bases in case the final decision swung (no pun intended) towards the dual-hinge/pyramid design during development.

What purpose does the hinge serve that the current single-arm does not? As far as I can tell, it's only there to raise the elevation of the screen. Why not just make the single-arm longer in that case?

My bet's still on the detachable-monitor/thin-client with chamelionic shell which would leverage both 10.3/4's multi-user capabilities and xgrid (need more power, buy more base stations) - both core advantages that Apple have worked hard on developing.

Sometimes Apple turns in incremental evolutions (click-wheel iPod, G4 iMac...) and the world stands still. But sometimes Apple just puts stuff out there that makes the world turn. I don't think that this is the new G5 iMac.

 

[Peyote]

Just noticed something else, the patent references a lot of articles talking about other computers, namely PC's...but they all seem to be somewhat in the field of all-in-one PC's. Maybe there's something to that as well...maybe that discount the possibility that this patent is just for a VESA arm.

 

[iMeowbot]

Are you talking about the date for the patent in question? The earliest date on this patent is Oct 03, there is a link to another patent for the original design showing the iMac g4, dated 2001

No. You need to read the TIFFs, not the HTML summary which is incomplete.

Patents go through an iterative process. An application is made, but usually the examiners don't approve it in its initial form. Requests for clarifications (could be from the examiner or the applicant) and so on are typical of the process, and revised applications with new numbers end up being filed. That 2003 date is for the last revision of the application that was approved, but the 2001 date is when the first application for this design was filed.

What happened in this case is that USPTO apparently wanted each of the design alternatives (dome and pyramid base) split into separate applications, to split the research effort into more manageable chunks. You'll find that the referenced application number 29/153,044 and date Nov. 8, 2001 belong to the patent D489,370 I referenced earlier, representing the identical jointed arm.

 

[im_noahselby]

my bet is on the dual arm thing over all components placed behind display...

its an interesting idea, and as others have pointed out it does not really seem to offer any benefits over the iMac G4 design, more likely than not it is stop imitators and the like

A lot of people seem surprised by this design, and are putting it down. I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but if this is indeed the new iMac G5 in the picture, I for one see at least one important benefit:

****Ever accidentaly ejected your CD drive while your iMac's screen was down. As you can see in the pictures, the two arms would extend the screen far enough from the cd tray for this to never be a problem. ****

 

[Peyote]

No. You need to read the TIFFs, not the HTML summary which is incomplete.

Patents go through an iterative process. An application is made, but usually the examiners don't approve it in its initial form. Requests for clarifications (could be from the examiner or the applicant) and so on are typical of the process, and revised applications with new numbers end up being filed. That 2003 date is for the last revision of the application that was approved, but the 2001 date is when the first application for this design was filed.

What happened in this case is that USPTO apparently wanted each of the design alternatives (dome and pyramid base) split into separate applications, to split the research effort into more manageable chunks. You'll find that the referenced application number 29/153,044 and date Nov. 8, 2001 belong to the patent D489,370 I referenced earlier, representing the identical jointed arm.

Ah ok, well Safari is giving me trouble with getting to the TIFF's, so I haven't been able to view them yet. That makes sense...which would make this patent meaningless now. I just find it suspect, however, that this patent would pop up the day before the Macworld

 

[adamfilip]

i bet this pyramid look is how its going to be.. there is no reason for apple to put some generic base on that drawing.. if they wanted to hide the base design why wouldnt they just put the curent base design on it.