Apple's latest patent brilliance: the iGlove The US Patent and Trademark Office yesterday released Apple's most recent application, in which the company files for patent protection for ... wait for it ... a glove. No, not a Power Glove. Patent #20090000010 is for what Apple calls a High tactility glove system designed to aid users in operating their multi-touch devices …
I use a similar system to 'aid tactile feedback' if I have to repair the bike by the roadside when I'm out cycling in cold weather - one pair 'Mountain Equipment' glove-liners (thin enough to allow me to fiddle with spoke keys, chain tools etc. and still keep my hands warm) and one pair 'standard' cycling mitts for grip, extra hand warmth etc.etc. - I have a vague recollection that there are some mountain-biking oriented gloves which have 'removable' fingertips for the same reason (not that I'd know - I'm a roadie ;-) )
Proof that there's nothing new under the sun, and my soon-to-be-patented 1.5 glove system even allows me to operate my iPod in sub-zero temperatures :-)
Flames, because I dislike cold hands almost as much as I dislike the USPTO
I think the best glove I've seen as a companion for a mobile phone is the one Jason Bradbury of The Gadget Show made a few years ago, ripped out the innards of a bluetooth headset and put them into a driving glove - Bluetooth Phone Glove! - mic in the little finger and speaker in the thumb with a button on the back to answer calls.
then gloves are not really your style.....something more showily expensive and no more functional will have to be invented.
How about gloves which flash 'I've got an iPod' as you wave them about, or perhaps ones that can spot people who arent impressed by electronic personality enhancers so they can go over to them and make sure they know who the new generation of trainspotters is?
http://www.snowshack.com/detail/SNW+M-02274+L_Marmot+Women%27s+iGlove+Ski%2FSnowboard+Multi+Black
Nifty whicky-do's on the thumbs and index fingers allow full control of your iPod.
Apple is gay for not doing their research - there are at least three other similar products.
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Surprised they didn't go for a high tech version using some haptic feedback on the finger tips to confirm a touch. Place a sensor on the outside of the glove finger wired to a piezo widget on the inside. The piezo vibrates a bit when the sensor registers a touch. A small button battery on the back of the glove. Job done! :-)
Paris cause she knows something about vibrations!
Mountain gloves; from I think Craigmore Sports in Aberdeen.... half length gloves which protect the middle and proximal phalanges; and large 'mitten' type flap to protect the distal phalanges. Keeps fingers warm all the time; and when required for fidding with tent pegs, camping equipment allows improved dexterity.
Anyhow I thought Apple were taking the Wii approach to input gestures. Flick of the wrist to switch on... over-arm bowl to send email... now that would be fun to watch on the train....
Surely its way to early for April's Fool?
Personally, I've been waiting for Apple to produce the iBrick. It's one brick shapped device that has the same capacity as my iPOD classic with all the wizz-bang features of the iPhone - with 3G and TomTom on it - oh, a connection to my mail a la blackberry... Then I could get rid of my other devices. Then I need a massive insurance policy if i left it on a train as it would have my whole life on it...
You heard hear first remember - the Apple iBrick...
Regards
Mike Laverick
RTFM Education
..in the frozen wasteland of Oulu, Finland, and (had, till it was nicked) an eee701 in my coat pocket, I decided the best way to use it when it's fuc*king cold - like today, at -15C - was to pop into the nearest bar and warm up first.
Gordon sodding Bennett, much easier and less embarrasing than pulling an elecronic condom over your 'wife's best friend'. Strewth, if the bloody thing's powered by a Sony battery...Jeez! Warm as toast!
Paris, 'cos she knows how to warm extremeties.
I just did a quick google patent search and I am rather shocked at the number of glove with finger hole patents there are. The scariest has to be patent 2725570, which is clearly designed as a device for the torture or ladies.
No matter, it will flop once it comes out that "I'm a Mac" has an iNfection from fingering "I'm a PC."
Oulu is NOT a frozen wasteland! It's a frozen paradise. And -15 is perfectly normal for this time of year. Now -30 or below, and you're talking. I don't think Andus has been living there too long... ;-)
Agree about the bar tip though - as long as you don't end up flat on your back from the ice furrows on the pavement on the way there, and haven't gone mad in the midday night...
Oh, and don't chill your Koskenkorva by leaving it out on the balcony - one swallow and your insides turn to ice - like the bad new terminator in Terminator 2.
(Paris cos my insides would probably turn to ice if she so much as looked at me.)
"Made by Barbour from neoprene, so they keep hands warm even if wet. The thumb, forefinger and middle finger can peel back and velcro tabs keep them there"
So if anything, Apple may owe Barbour some money ... I like to think there's a certain irony in that. If they don't cough, we'll send the SAS after 'em :-)
The wax one, ta ...
What Apple filed was a Preliminary Patent. You can tell by the number, which begins with the year; real patents are in a single sequence. It is not a granted patent, and has not been reviewed by the USPTO yet. It's more of a record of invention. By filing a PP, the inventor can establish a date trail, but then they have to file the real patent application within a year. Then the USPTO decides whether or not to grant it. To be sure, they've granted so awfully daft and unworthy patents lately, but this one is not yet among them.
...they've given up trying to (were they ever trying?) let us use our i${DEVICENAME} with normal gloves on, and instead expect us to pull back our fore...finger on the iGlove thus exposing ourselves to localised frostbite.
Jobs, because by late spring his fingers will once again be too fat to use his iphone.
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