Apple

A new Apple patent application could provide ways to control a computer with a combination of input technologies.

(Credit: U.S. PTO)

Apple may be thinking about adding new ways to improve the multitouch interface work that is central to the company's plan for the future.

Unwired View unearthed a patent application filed by Apple (thanks, Gizmodo) containing ideas for a user interface system that builds on the multitouch input used on the iPhone by adding technology for voice recognition and even facial recognition.

Wayne Westerman and John Elias, the brains behind a multitouch interface company called Fingerworks, acquired by Apple in 2005, are listed as inventors on the patent application, as they have been for several other multitouch patents coming out of Apple.

The idea behind the latest patent application is to combine input from different sources, whether that's the now-familiar iPhone multitouch concept, voice recognition, or facial expressions.

Systems may have multiple input means. However, each input means is typically operated independently...in a nonseamless way. There is no synergy between them. They do not work together or cooperate for a common goal such as improving the input experience.

That's what Apple hopes to do with the system it's trying to patent--combine multiple forms of input in order to more efficiently control a computer. For example, you could select an object with a finger gesture, order the computer with a voice command to change that object's color to blue, and then tell the computer where you want to place the object by staring at the lower right-hand corner of the screen.

Patent applications, as a rule, are designed to cover as wide an array of possible applications for the technology as the author can think of, so don't expect to see a Mac or iPhone with all of that stuff just yet. Still, it does seem that Apple is putting an awful lot of time into user interface design these days.

Apple appears to be working on the concept of a Mac tablet again, based on a recent patent application.

(Credit: U.S. PTO (via AppleInsider))

Rumors of Apple working on a touch-screen Mac have been circulating for years, and will only grow with the revelation that the company is hoping to patent similar technology.

A number of Mac sites on Thursday are pointing to a U.S. patent application granted for what would appear to be the mythical Mac tablet. AppleInsider has a description of the device discussed in the application, which appears to bring a lot of the iPhone's multitouch functionality to a slate-like tablet computer.

Given Apple' focus on multitouch user interfaces over the past year, there has been a fair amount of speculation that the company wants to do something similar with a larger, more powerful computer than the iPhone or iPod Touch.

The thing is, Apple's explored this territory before: I found one patent reference dating back to 2005, and other sites are reporting that the current application is similar to technology Apple patented two years ago.

Tablet PCs in the Windows world haven't sold very well, and the concept has almost completely fallen off the radar screen of the PC industry. That reluctance may be the result of software that isn't quite advanced enough to match the hardware, but few people seem to want a handheld computer the size of a piece of paper and the weight of a regular laptop.

Apple could be embracing the clamshell aesthetic for a future iPhone.

Unwiredview.com found an Apple patent application for a "dual-sided trackpad device," which resembles the current iPhone redesigned into the clamshell format so popular with many mobile phones. The key to this design is having touch-screen capabilities on both the top and bottom of the phone when it's open.

Could Apple be working on a clamshell version of the iPhone?

(Credit: Unwiredview.com)

This design goes a step further, as well, in that the closed cover of the iPhone could also have trackpad capability. PC makers have experimented with this, adding some basic buttons and capabilities to the covers of closed notebooks. Apple's patent application describes how you could use the closed iPhone as an iPod, with controls for advancing to the next track, adjusting the volume, and so forth.

It's quite possible that Apple could be considering other form factors for future generations of iPhones, but I wonder how the touch-screen keyboard and the video player would work on a clamshell model where the one big screen is now divided across two panels. Patent applications aren't necessarily indicative of product plans, but they often provide hints of what companies are thinking about down the road.

Just how far might Apple be planning to take Apple TV, Take Three (or maybe four)?

An Apple patent application unearthed by AppleInsider shows a proposed system for using an iPod-like device as a remote control for an Apple TV-like device with DVR capabilities. (They never use the actual product names in the applications, but it's not too hard to tell.) It also suggests that Apple is thinking about making a version of Apple TV that could watch and record live television programming.

Apple has applied for a patent that could let you record David Letterman interviewing Ben Affleck (we think that's Ben Affleck).

(Credit: USPTO)

Apple TV got a little more interesting in January with the release of the second version of the product, which can play rented movies from the iTunes Store along with purchased videos. What it can't do, however, is replace your living room set-top box from your cable or satellite provider and deliver live television.

But in a series of illustrations, the patent application shows how a video player could scroll through a lineup of programs that looks an awful lot like the TV Guide channel. Viewers could watch, pause, and rewind live television when controlled by an iPod-like remote control device. In keeping with Apple's latest push toward multitouch interfaces, several gestures could be used on the remote control to fast forward, rewind, or pause, among other things.

The standard patent application disclaimer applies: Don't expect to see this device on store shelves in the coming weeks, as patent applications don't always make their way into products. Still, an Apple TV that could play live television--whether that's over cable, satellite, or the Internet--as well as rent movies directly from the iTunes Store would be an interesting device, especially if you could use your iPhone or iPod as the clicker.

Apple could be readying a notebook trackpad that lets you practice your Rock Band form while using your Mac.

A patent application unearthed by MacRumors.com seeks protection for multitouch technology similar to that introduced by Apple on the MacBook Air's trackpad. This time, however, MacBook users could use as many as four fingers positioned in "chords" to execute different tasks in Mac OS X, such as bringing all the application windows to the front or opening up the Dashboard.

A new Apple patent could bring new multitouch trackpad features to future Macs.

(Credit: MacRumors.com)

This could even be extended to individual tasks within applications, such as cut and paste. Those were the examples provided in the patent application, but it wouldn't be hard to imagine extending this to things like a browser, such as opening a link in a new tab or performing different tasks within iTunes.

A word of warning, as always, about patent applications: there's no guarantee that this technology will make it into a shipping product, or if it does, whether that will be out anytime soon. Still, it's clear that Apple has made developing advanced multitouch input methods a priority, as it continues to evolve the way people interact with their Macs and iPhones.