Apple eyes (yet another) multi-touch patent

Ever since Jeff Han's deservedly famous demo of a multi-touch interface at the TED conference in February of 2006, gestural-display developments have continued to appear, from Apple's mega-successful iPhone to Microsoft's micro-market Surface computer. In an application filing published today by the US Patent Office and …

[Anonymous Coward]

Very interesting

I hadn't seen the video linked in the story until now and I was very impressed. I would love to see this kind of interface come into commercial production soon. It's the way I've envisioned interacting with my computers for quite some time now. I hope Apple has actual plans for applications of this outside of the iPhone because I can see this kind of interface bringing about a huge shift in the computer industry. Especially if it can be made inexpensive and reliable.

[Chris iverson]

Inexpensive and Apple

Let me know when the swine are prepared for takeoff

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple start your photocopiers!

Wow! Apple start your photocopiers: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0h_OO4Gz28c

[Johny Cumlately]

Already been done

Alesis and Roland had these interfaces in their synths for years. Roland D-Beam and Alesis Air-FX. Squeezing it down though, into a phone would be interesting to see. Not much use in a laptop unless it's a panel/tablet device.

[Neil Stansbury]

Apple patents

No doubt more Apple patents based on ripping off someone else's idea, especially when Jeff made it quite clear all the technology and hand gestures he'd created were public domain.

Gosh Apple you are sooo clever.

[Ascylto]

There's a lot of Wow! out there.

How very Microsoft ...

"Apple start your photocopiers"

is a direct steal from "Redmond, start your photocopiers." from an Apple Conference.

Still, let's not take away from Microsoft what they've 'innovated' (Ha!) ... by their timescales, they should introduce the multi-touch technology sometime in 2012, 2013, 2014 ... anyway, about three years after Apple.

I'm no fan of the fruit company but Microsoft? Innovate? Don't make me laugh!

But then again ... Ballmer is much more able than Seinfeld at comedic performances.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Iam Me

Well, it'll (hopefully) become easier to do when Windows 7 is released- that's supposed to have multitouch support. You can already manage it using GlovePIE or something similar- have a look online and you'll find some examples of wiimotes and cameras being used to control multiple cursors.

It's really good fun using your Laptop's integrated webcam & basic gesture recognition to control Google Earth or AutoCAD when you're at work!

Linux already has multipoint control through mpx (which, IIRC, is going to be part of future Linux kernels or something).

So it's already here, we just need the software to take proper advantage of it. And some affordable, low-latency interfaces

[Lukin Brewer]

Shutting down Macs by waving goodbye?

Why did that make me think of the sub-etha radio in the Heart of Gold, where you had to sit very still when you found the right channel. Or invent this out-of-context misquote: "...he could easily hose the entire system with a single extravagant gesture."