More Apple Tablet Patents - Gesture User Interface?

[hrmpf]

animated gif made from patent

gif made from the apple patent app showing the Gestures in action

-- more pictures at hrmpf.com

 

[dongmin]

Virtual clickwheel! Sweet!

Get ready for the video ipod with 5" screen.

 

[dashiel]

for all you nay-sayers talking about how tablets are useless; i was around when people said the exact same thing about the mouse. it was useless, a toy, the command line is faster, etc... yet here we are 20+ years later and you won't find more than a handful of consumers using command line prompts.

a tablet based PC is *not* a laptop replacement, and based on these patents it seems apple gets that. once you start treating a tablet as a tablet and not a laptop with a pen based interface it makes sense. is it for everyone or every situation? hardly, but will it become the primary interaction method for consumers in the next 10-15 years? absolutely it's going to require major rethinking on the part of app developers, but it is going to happen.

 

[MacQuest]

Should we start trying to guess the name? My guess is MacPod

So Apple's line-up will be:

- MacTablet/MacTouch [Since it's running a version of OS X. Otherwise I'd call it an iPod Pro]
- MacBook
- MacBook Pro
- Mac Mini
- Mac [when the iMac drops the "i"]
- Mac Pro

I Like it!

Then, inevitably:
- iPod
- uPod
- wePod

 

[mpw]

I think we all know that Apple isn't going to release a tablet unless they can do it much better than has ever been done before. I'd say these patents are just the beginning.

I have absolute proof that Apple are to release a small tablet/PDA device in the next 5-days.
The sales invoice for my Palm T|X purchased today with 5-day delivery.

 

[firebox]

I think the tablet computer idea is a bit of a red herring.

My guess is that they point to the next generation of video-enabled iPod. The problem with video on the 5G iPod is that the screen is way too small, making it inferior (well, arguably, and only in terms of Video) to the PSP and some of the Archos offerings. But, the screen could not be made any bigger due to the real-estate occupied by the click wheel.

So, let the screen cover the whole of the front of the iPod, and replace the click-wheel with some innovative kind of touch-sensitive gesture control on the screen itself. With a little Apple magic, it could be beautiful. Think... nice and shiny, lovely rounded corners, no moving parts, just a screen in your pocket.

But why stop there...? Throw in WiFi and maybe a simple web browser and a VOIP client and <insert wish-list here>, and you've got a tablet-computer-PDA-communications device in your pocket. Except it won't be any of those things... it'll still be an iPod.

Oh well, back to my day job...

Regards
Superleccy

Edit: Sorry petej, just saw your post... didn't mean to steal your idea.

Did anyone mention the Steve-quote/press release about the idea of calling it the 'iPod' ? something like....It is not intended for just music, or just photo/video or just anything... it was meant to be a "personal digital lifestyle device" or whatever fancy marketing term they attached to it.

Basically ANYTHING usefull, that a device of these dimentions (which dictates a lot of things) could be used for.

No boundries....Think different !

I think there are many evolutions of the iPod to come, and again, obviously, more advanced ones. Apple have a tendancy to create markets, and not just fall into an already existing segment, the iPod brand is perfect for creating these markets

These patents could be for one single product, or for something integrated into every product in development, we'll never know with Captain Secret Steve. Even so, it's always good to see more innovation coming our way!

 

[jouster]

You are right, you don't want yesterday's tablet PC But.....

What if that tablet where your TV remote control? Would you need a tablet then?
I can envision a hand held device with a smallscreen that connects wirelessly to a "media center mac". The screen would have a finder-like list of "stuff you can watch" maybe even with tiny thumbnail icons. You'd then toutch the one(s) you want to see or maybe drag them into some order and program the whole evening.

That isn't a tablet. Tablets need to be big enough to display (and allow you to annotate) at least a page of standard-sized text.

Who wants a $500 TV remote? My TV already came with one, and it seems to me that the screen is a far better place to show you "stuff you can watch" - for which Apple already has a solution.

 

[MacQuest]

I have absolute proof that Apple are to release a small tablet/PDA device in the next 5-days.
The sales invoice for my Palm T|X purchased today with 5-day delivery.

What does a Palm T/X running Palm OS® Garnet 5.4 have to do with this supposed Apple product?

If you were being sarcastic, you're sarcasm needs some work.

 

[puuukeey]

saying a tablet is kinda silly. first of all, if it's flippy its exactly the same as a notebook. and if your typing, its useless.

but photoshop with gesturing? dragging and resizing windows with your hand? dragging on number boxes? touching icons? THE MUSIC POSSIBILITIES

whats missing from computers is a tactile interface. the audio industry knows that.

and its better than the touch pad!

 

[puuukeey]

what naysayers fail to understand is that a good tablet pc would intergrate hardware, software, and purpose. with little alteration, os x could become completely tactile.

 

[MacQuest]

That isn't a tablet.

Good.

Who wants a $500 TV remote? My TV already came with one...

I think that ChrisA's original post about this being a tv remote is really dumbing down this potential product.

However, don't under-estimate the success of pricey remote controls as home theaters expand with more components. Each one of those comes with their own remote as well.

You may want to ask Logitech about their universal remote:
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=337524&pfp=SEARCH

And that really is just a remote. This Apple product will be more of a networking device IMO.

 

[windmaomao]

unless it's washable, I'm not convinced its usefulness. o, it has to be water-proof first

 

[DPazdanISU]

What does a Palm T/X running Palm OS® Garnet 5.4 have to do with this supposed Apple product?

If you were being sarcastic, you're sarcasm needs some work.

could it be the Processor:
312 MHz Intel XScale PXA270 with WMMX???
I'll buy one

 

[sam10685]

looks interesting...!

i think they should make it out of a VERY durable thing because people (like me) drop stuff and spill stuff often. (waterproof it too.) i also think the should include a stand that goes with it so it can act as a desktop computerlike an imac.

 

[jouster]

However, don't under-estimate the success of pricey remote controls as home theaters expand with more components. Each one of those comes with their own remote as well.

Point taken, but I don't see it as a product that would interest Apple - unless they produce whatever it's controlling too. They prefer, as we know, to control the whole user process so I doubt they'd want to deal with all the many different things people would want a universal controller for.

Unless all those plasma TV rumors were true, which seems highly unlikely.

 

[dongmin]

I have absolute proof that Apple are to release a small tablet/PDA device in the next 5-days.
The sales invoice for my Palm T|X purchased today with 5-day delivery.

and this 'absolute proof' is???

 

[danielwsmithee]

could it be the Processor:
312 MHz Intel XScale PXA270 with WMMX???
I'll buy one

I hopt not. While I think the XScale are great processors. I would hope that this device could run OS X, and any application made for OS X in some manner. That would not be possible on the XSCale. It would need to be X86 based.

 

[bigandy]

These applications are an effort by Apple to tie up uses for the FingerWorks technology they bought to get away from Synaptics. Alternative possibilities to an actual product include a lever to get better deals from suppliers, or simply to extract royalties from other companies.

iAgree.

 

[bigandy]

and this 'absolute proof' is???

white text. read it again.

 

[bigandy]

unless it's washable, I'm not convinced its usefulness. o, it has to be water-proof first

what the hell are you going to be doing with it??!!!?!?

 

[MarkCollette]

What would you guys buy, if they cost the same and had similar CPU and RAM specs, a MacTable or a MacBook? Keep in mind that the MacBook would have a built-in optical drive, video out, that the MacTablet would probably lack.

 

[NewbieNerd]

what the hell are you going to be doing with it??!!!?!?

lol, same thoughts here. Is your laptop waterproof? I guess I would have questions about touching a screen since I have never had a tablet, but I think waterproof is a bit extreme...

I'd be very interested in an Apple Tablet. I agree with an earlier poster that having a full-fledged laptop at a meeting creates a kind of barrier while I think a tablet would remove that. I personally love to write thoughts and algorithms on paper, even without diagrams, but diagrams are certainly that must more deserving a tablet. Yeah, there's the question, why don't I just use a notebook...and I don't know, haha, but that's just because I haven't had the experience of using a tablet so I may or may not really enjoy doing it. For an informal presentation I would CERTAINLY love it, being able to write on slides and whatnot. *gushing* Please Mr. Jobs!

 

[shrimpdesign]

What would you guys buy, if they cost the same and had similar CPU and RAM specs, a MacTable or a MacBook? Keep in mind that the MacBook would have a built-in optical drive, video out, that the MacTablet would probably lack.

I'd get the MacTablet. I hardly ever use CDs. I can always make an image on my iMac, and then mount it on the MacTablet. As long as Apple figures out a way for fast note taking and mouse/pen replacement I'd buy it ASAP.

 

[Cinch]

haven't use a CD in a long time

What would you guys buy, if they cost the same and had similar CPU and RAM specs, a MacTable or a MacBook? Keep in mind that the MacBook would have a built-in optical drive, video out, that the MacTablet would probably lack.

With the exception of backing up data at work last month, I haven't touch a CD perhaps for two years. DVD is a different matter, but I can see it going the way of CDs.

Give me a laptop/tablet/computer that have online access (web/email). I rather have a device that can do this well, then say a laptop that tries to do everything that a desktop do.

Cinch

 

[zpapasmurf]

I'm still not convinced...

The percent of people that want tablet PC's is very small compared to desktops or notebooks, and when your market share is at 5 percent, you need to be careful of what your release.

Quick question...

does anyone know what Apple's laptop market share is?

It seems that every other laptop I see is an iBook or Powerbook.... which would lead me to believe that they have a significantly higher portable market share than desktop market share...

just a thought