An Apple patent unearthed by
Mac Rumors named
Swipe Gestures for Touch Screen Keyboards suggests a future direction the company might be taking which would substantially change interaction with devices like the iPhone. According to the document, the new system would allow for simple finger gestures like swipes to the left or right to control basic functions of text editing. Some movements outlined in the application include a left swipe for deletion of characters, right swipes for a space, and a swipe down in place of the return key. Of course, these types of gestures are nothing new (and frankly, nothing patentable we suspect), as applications on the company's own devices -- namely the jailbreak-only
MobileTerminal -- feature almost this exact implementation of gesture control, and Microsoft has had a similar (albeit stylus-based) concept in WinMo for years. Still, adding in this functionality to the software's existing tools would likely improve navigation and input, and opens the door for solutions to the lingering (and annoying) copy / paste problems Apple seems to have.
[Via
Mac Rumors]
posted Dec 26th 2008 10:58AM
lingering is an understatement
Merry Firstmas!
I know a lot of people want to praise Apple for what this new patent might mean, but DON'T DO IT!! You'll get low ranked and if that happens, girls won't date you again. And you won't get into college. So here are a few suggestions for people crazy enough to praise Apple on Engadget.
The Official Guide to Avoiding Low Rankings on Engadget (Updated with more snarkiness!)
1) Don't talk about Apple in any way positive, even if the praise is warranted and based on statistics, popular opinion, and actual sales.
2) Don't mention the iPhone in any Engadget post about a touchscreen phone, because as everyone knows, it is absolutely positively impossible that another company could be making a touchscreen phone because of Apple.
3) Don't suggest that Apple has innovated anything, because someone can always find an obscure company in Romania that did it first.
4) Don't suggest that a person might be a Microsoft Fanboy, because this is impossible, even if the aforementioned person has an Xbox, Zune, PC with Vista and every version of Windows minted in gold and platinum and a Bill Gates poster above the bed.
5) Never talk about "buying" a pre-built computer, unless you are discussing an article about a feud between Apple and a PC company like Dell. If it comes to this, you must choose the side of Dell, even if you never plan on buying a Dell for the rest of your natural life.
6) Never say Macs "just work," unless it's sarcasm. For example, an article about a glitch with a new Leopard bug fix might prompt you to say, "it just works," over and over in a sarcastic tone. The Anti-Apple people love this.
7) Never say Macs are invulnerable to viruses, even if the number of viruses on Macs (currently 0) doesn't even reflect their share of the computer market. It's better to say that hackers don't target Macs because they are unaware of the annoying, pretentious, over confident users. You see, Hackers only target computer users they like.
(8) Post a stupid "guide" to being ranked low.
well thats enough irony for the entire day
How about a big middle finger SWIPE for no copy and paste!
9) never bring up the same stupid whining post more than 0 times while under the same screenname; this way you can avoid being pelted with rotten fruit and stones like iEye, Clak and Fuzo are.
@fred
Though what you meant is spot on, I'm surprised at the number of fails it took (voters) to get you high rank b/c the posting was about how to avoid low ranks, not how to ensure them. Ensuring them is what your addendum would do.
Or just go hang out at Gizmodo, wherein the exact opposite is the case.
1) I've seen comments criticizing Apple prods fro the sake of it low ranked here
2) The Apple backlash, though arguably petty, was a reaction to fanboy-ism and seeing every other post in 2007 having the aforementioned company as it's focus.
And then came the trolls...
(pssst...LG is in Korea)
(10) Wish people a Merry Firstmas! :( *sigh*
Very good, low rank Paul Chapel's comment, prove him right. Engadget commenters all seem to be twelve years old, the way reverse psychology just grabs hold of us.
how can you be first when replying? wouldn't the comment in which you replied come before you? derr.
@OneLove
ROFL 'Merry Firstmas'?? low ranked? come on guys he is onto something this could be the next big thing.
@garrenteed: I was simply wishing liv merry firstmas.
yup... :( sorry you were low ranked mate :)
thanx :D
Copy/paste? Really? Still complaining about that? Funny how everyone I know with an iPhone doesn't complain about that one bit, even moving from good smartphones, but you guys at Engadget always try to complain about it :\ Sure it would be nice, but Apple has to have a reason behind it..
other than pissing everybody off??
I am sorry that you don't know a lot of people.
Patriks7 Just because spoiled 15 yo rich kids have fun wit their copy/paste-less iPhone, doesn't mean that corporate people are of the same opinion... "Hey, I just have to retype a 150 word e-mail... aaa... screw that, I'll just whoop up a can of Super Monkey Ball... YAY!" :|
I totally agree with you. There is no reason for copy paste. I never needed it.
When you hate something, you have to bring up every shortcoming, downfall and missed opportunity in relation to it.
Therefore, when apple makes a product, people spend time talking about "it doesn't play this/that codec", "it doesn't have copy/paste", "it doesn't have long battery life", "being locked to AT&T sucks - cause AT&T sucks".
Sure those people who hate apple will down rank me - but the truth is, they hate the fact apple is on top of the cellular market right now and some of them secretly hate Apple because its a successful AMERICAN COMPANY.
Frankly, I want both Microsoft and Apple to succeed - just as I want Ford, GM and Chrysler to succeed despite the fact the TRAITORS in this country are doing their best to break the back of the union and destroy America's competitive edge. There ain't a damn SUV out there better than an Escalade. But these losers out there will talk about Pathfinders and piece of shit Sequioas blah blah blah.
I think its so funny - in relation to the iphone - how on Engadget, mentioning how good it is gets you down ranked. I also think its funny how quickly people were to throw support behind the STORM and the Archos right up until people bought em and realized how crappy they were and all they couldn't do to compete with the iPhone. Jealousy is pathetic.
I don't think Engadget hates apple or its products. Hell, at that holiday party last week, all I saw was iphones.
Oh My God. Can't believe I'm agreeing with Flashpoint, but he's right. People who hate Apple want you to forget about the Widescreen Video iPod, Multi-touch, Visual Voicemail, Safari Mobile, Google Maps with Street View, Exchange support, and the App Store with 10,000 apps/games and counting.
Funny Flashpoint because the only jealousy seems to be coming from you.
@Flashpoint:
"I don't think Engadget hates apple or its products." ~ the only statement I agree with in your entire comment. They get paid to advertise their products on this blog!
You think we hate successful American companies? I have 4 Fords (3 Fiestas and one Focus), I own an iPhone 1gen, an iPod touch 1st gen, two macbooks and an iMac, I eat at McDonalds about 3 times a week, I have more Windows Vista licenses in my firm than your entire fucking college, you paranoid brat... I DON'T GIVE A CRAP IF IT'S AN AMERICAN COMPANY OR IF THEY'RE BASED IN EAST FUCKING SAMOA... all I want is a gadget that works as it should... I don't want to pay for upgrades and simple functions that should have been there in the first place. And copy paste is an annoyance I'm sick of... It doesn't frustrate me that I don't have that function, it pisses me of that even though Apple knows about this... they still don't care. It's like they're doing it just to spite us...
And cut the crap with the anti-American shit... My country sent 126 brave souls in Irak who lost their lives just so you can drive your Escalade using blood oil... Think you're being patriotic? You're just being arrogant and stupid.
"People who hate Apple want you to forget about the Widescreen Video iPod, Multi-touch, Visual Voicemail, Safari Mobile, Google Maps with Street View, Exchange support, and the App Store with 10,000 apps/games and counting."
And people who love Apple want you to forget the flaws of the iphone as well and remind everyone about the flaws of the competition. It's all about personal preferences. I absolutely love my storm, but I don't care what you think about it. It works for me the way I want it to. I didnt want an iphone. I'm just glad there is so much competition in the market to bring more innovation to the smartphone industry. I mean I have a wider selection of devices to choose from. =)
Why people need copy/paste:
when you receive an email about the movie "shanghai football" and want to search for it, you have to re-type its name from your memory in the browser instead of simply copying its name and pasting it. Its not a huge problem, its just annoying.
@Flashpoint (or corporate mind programmed zombie)
Good luck supporting American companies (unlike the traitors lol)
Mind you when they move all their jobs to China and India wriggle their way out of paying tax to your government then demand millions of dollars in payoffs because they invested badly and borrow too much what exactly are you supporting ? D'OH !
What? Because they don't have a patent for copy / paste?
I have an iPod Touch that I use for Browsing all the time, and I sorely miss cut and paste. I also own a G1 and use cut and paste every single day. If you seriously believe its not a useful function in spite of the fact that its present in *every* OS ever made since the 80's (except the iPhone OS) then you are drinking the apple fanboy coolade.
Yesterday I had an application in production giving 404s to clients who had just made purchases. THAT SUCKS ROYALLY!! The developers fixed the app, but the existing client uploads needed to be moved around and renamed. It was Christmas and I was nowhere near an internet connection. I opened my Mac and practiced getting the bash "for loop" perfect. I saved it to a file and bluetoothed it to my Blackberry 8820. I opened the file and COPIED the script to the clipboard. I fired up an MidpSSH connection to a reachable server, then made several hops to get to the production server. I PASTED, hit return, and in about 6 minutes my bash-fu saved the day. The one line script was far too complicated for me key into even a Blackberry with a dedicated keyboard. Had I transposed a single character, it could have been disaster. If I was an iPhone user I would have been out of luck or would have to be able to tether my Mac to it to use CUT/PASTE on the Mac.
Lack of cut/paste is simple stubborn arrogance. It will eventually be resolved and the excuses will be even more profuse than they are today. Just like they were when the Mighty Mouse was released.
I love my Macs. I won't use another workstation. I buy a lot of iPods for my family. I don't own or use any MSFT product except for a Trackball Explorer (loves it!). I manage an infrastructure team using Linux exclusively. I am a fair judge of merit. The lack of cut/paste is forgivable on the first release, but not on any revision. This is an "epic arrogance fail".
All the hatred!!!!
@liv
Why would you buy three Fiestas?
@questionmark ~ because one was just not enough!! Not only that, they are the same color!!
Mad, I tell you, maaaaaaad....
wtf?
I remember back with at least WinMo 2003
enable gestures in the keyboard menu
swipe left to delete, right to space, down to enter, and up to capitalize
Just saw your comments after i posted mine below.
Agree 100%!
Hey, I remember playing with that feature on my HP iPaq h2210 ^^. Can Apple really patent that since prior art already exist, or can they only patent it for fingers?
You can go back even further than that --
Graffiti used these same gestures for text editing in the late _ 1990's _ on Palm and OmniGo handhelds.
Just about to write the exact same thing.
Maybe the patent is viable because you're using a finger rather than a stylus?
With WinMo and others you did it with a stylus.
With Apple you do it with a finger.
They think its worth a patent.
Yeah,
Thats what I was thinking.
Especially Palm Pilots. This was the whole input interface.
@Ayle and Agent .25i
News Flash, you can do it with your fingers as well on a WM device it's not limited to the stylus, recessitive is an equal oportunity touch interface.
just thought I might add.
but... you could have done those gestures with your finger on Winmo and Palm devices too! (at least I did, sometimes)
Don't forget the HWR from winmobile was originally in the Newton.
@ McLovin
News Flash... I knew that already, as I have owned several stylus based touch sensitive screen PD/MA's in the past. I was speaking of the patent rights.
News Flash... learn to comprehend before you post.
@barry
Actually for the Newton, Apple licensed Graffiti from Palm. Because Apple's own HWR on the Newton was absolutely atrocious.
Yup, been doing this for 5 years now with my WinMo pdas. It IS an excellent interface, I find it very intuitive, so I'm glad it'll reach a wider user base and become the standard
But when this goes mainstream nobody is going to remember WinMo 2003 or anything before that, they are going to say that Apple was the first company to have this feature just as they were the first company to have touch screen phone, when they were not.
Apple already has a patent on touch screen phones.
Don't know it invented them?
Thats why every touch screen phone (even if it was released 10 years earlier) is an iPhone ripoff
@good grief
I don't know where you got that little piece of misinformation. Apple licensed the the HWR software from a company called Paragraph International Inc. The same company that created Calligrapher, which is what the HWR software in Windows Mobile is based on. Here let me state my source.
https://www.msu.edu/~luckie/gallery/mp100.htm
If apple is doing it, it MUST be: "sleek", "innovative", "stylish", "revolutionary" and "ground breaking"
Replying to your comment above, about how people get down ranked when praising the iPhone on engaget: The last person to praise the iPhone that I read did so in the article about HD camcorders. It's those idiots that get downranked often, because they deserve it. And iEye, because he makes stupid fanboy idiotisms. If someone says something smart or constructive about it, they shouldn't be downvoted imo.
Actually - Windows Mobile has had these EXACT gestures since Pocket PC 2000 !
Great innovating apple! Very patent worthy.
I though I recognised those from somewhere. I've never had a smartphone so it's easily forgotten. If its been used by microsoft can't they stop this. Thats if they wanted it. I'm not sure I would probably use the gestures anyway but you never know. I'm not sure it's worth patenting.
Apple havent even released this feature, and would you know about innovation ?
You need to add copy/paste before adding something as complicated as gestures, Apple!
Video of Android's copy/paste in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1m4j676BCc
Apple know how to add copy and paste to the iphone.
They just playing there cards.
Not only should that video shame Apple when it comes to a function as primitive as Copy/Paste, but it should shut them and their fanboys up entirely due to how Android handles Multitasking -- a word that is altogether unfamiliar to any iPhone advocate.
It's worth mentioning that Windows Mobile handles copy/paste and multitasking just as elegantly.
Android/WM - 2 (for copy/paste and multitasking)
Apple - 0
Im being generous here because if you add up all of the features apple is lacking the score would look more like:
100 - 9 or thereabouts
My secret tipster tells me that the above is actually a photo of the new iPhone.
My secret tipster tells me that drawings do not represent the creation of an actual product...
dcoaster, he was joking.
Yeah, whole foods sounds great
Knowing it's Apple, they will receive the patent because it contains "new and unearthed features that will change the meaning of the words touchscreen gestures". =/
what phone could that be?
Whatever it is, it looks like a total iphone rip off.
"How about meeting at whole foods?"
apple.....steve jobs....iphone.....going green.......whole foods......hybrid vehicle........trendy.......gayness......
You forgot smugness and fart-smelling
@ Patriks7 @ Dec 26th 2008 11:08AM
"Copy/paste? . . . Sure it would be nice, but Apple has to have a reason behind it."
Bush supporters way back in the day:
"No evidence of weapons of mass destruction? But Bush has to have a reason behind invading Iraq."
I write a lot of detailed memos and emails on the go. My ancient Treo 650 can do copy/paste with a real (albeit tiny) keyboard. I still prefer it over the used iPhone I bought.
As far as input for the iPhone, I think Apple should focus on implementing voice input in house or licensing "Dragon NaturallySpeaking". THAT would make the iPhone really useful.
1999 functions on PalmOS
left to right: delete
right to lef:t space
and you wont believe, but upper left to bottom right and vice versa: X
awesome isnt it?
I got this great innovative idea for implementing copy/paste:
You hold down a "function" or "control" key in combination with a second key representing the corresponding action... say "c" for copy, "v" for paste, etc.
Quick! To the patent office!
I don't know. It sounds really complicated. I'm sure pressing a button to get into a special "edit mode," plus learning the two or three finger gesture and which part of the compass to swipe towards would be ever so much easier. Plus, and I think you're really missing the point here, it would be so cool.
Anybody want to read the title again ? Apple file patent.
Filing a patent does not mean you own it, it can take years for a patent to be granted, you can bet M$ and loads of other companies have filed similar patents, it all about licensing and rarely about new inventions, my 4 year old iPaq can do this so I doubt it will ever be granted.
...And in the news today: Apple files a patent for a frozen flagpole that doubles as a tongue scraper.
in closing: Apple patents lots of random stuff, good and bad, so lets stop reporting every time Apple patents the next hedgehog on a stick back scratcher that can access your iTunes but will still bite you and give you rabies.
Overly aggressive patenting, like Apple is attempting here, is ultimately a bad deal for the end-user. Twenty year patents make no sense in the fast paced industry of consumer technology.
If you don't find it newsworthy, don't click the article!
i only have 1 gesture for apple...
well i have one gesture on each hand for apple...
@clever
Can you do that or does Apple have the patent on multitouch gestures?
I learned to make the same gesture with my feet.
Just for Apple!
These gestures look completely useless for products like the iPhone that have the full keyboard on screen already. How would a swipe motion be faster or more effective than tapping the on screen button?
"meeting at whole foods" does not answer the question of "whats for dinner?"
There goes Apple trying to rip off other people again!
What about letting us use the keyboard in landscape mode? You know...outside safari.
Video of Spb Software House's Spb Keyboard with these gestures in action:
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/keyboard/?en
As this "new" and "innovative" "gesture-based text editing" is an old Microsoft feature, there may be videos of it in use from Pocket PC 2000 & 2002.
There's no such thing as the completely original idea...it's more about implementation.
Batteries and generators have been kicking around for decades...doesn't take away from the significance of the Hybrid.
This is not meant to be a bash, but it's kind of what is sad about Microsoft and a lot of these cell phone companies. With all those resources and talent...they've got the copying thing down but implementation stinks. It usually adds little to no value and often makes things worse.
You can put on the fake boobs and shave your head 'til the cows come home, but it'll never make you Britney Spears (though lord knows I keep trying ;)...
Hmmmm, maybe I can patent the gesture people use to wipe their asses? That could be a real money maker - everybody does it!
Anybody know a good patent attorney?
Or how about an ass-elerometer? You wouldn't even have to stay seated...the toilet would just flip depending on 'viewing' angle....
Oh, I'm big bucks...just need to figure out a workaround for that gravity thing...
Wow, I totally thought of that the day the iPhone was first announced...
You guys still complaining about copy & paste? You guys sound like the guys who complain about there wife because she won't suck your **** either get a new wife or shut up.
man i just hate when the wife doesnt suck my asterisks
Maybe if you washed your asterisks she's reconsider? Nobody likes sweaty asterisks...
Are we allowed to talk about vacuuming on these boards?! When it's hot outside I like vacuuming in the nude. It's a dirty/clean thing...
or at least quit complaining
Funny how Pocket PC's have been able to do this since 2003. =|
Read on losers:
http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=2024
Next time they patent a color display...
this patent shouldn't be hold by anyone.
This is so idiotic it's not even funny.
PalmOS has had this since the Graffitti 1 days, and that was in the 90s... Not to mention WinMo.
Graffitti 2 has alot more than that.
Good luck with your failpatenting Apple!
Many props and much love for linking and shouting out Mac Rumors on this one. I'm loving it Engadget!
Sure if Apple does, it must be new! But the problem is Microsoft has had all these gestures for nearly a decade. See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms818591.aspx. Sorry for the disappointment. I don't know how this patent is even valid
Forgive me for being on-topic, but the article mentions that WinMo devices have been able to do those things via stylus-gesture for years. In fact, Palm OS has had the back-swipe for backspace and forward-swipe for space for at least a decade when graffiti was the input method.
To address the comments here, though, regarding the lack of copy/paste and other omissions in the iPhone; Yes, the iPhone is an amazing device. I've been salivating for one for a long time, especially since the 3G was released. But that's the point, isn't it? It's so amazing, yet lacks the seemingly simple capacity to copy and paste text, a function I use frequently on my Treo.
Which leads me to flashpoint's other comment about people hating on AT&T. That is the #1 reason I haven't switched to the iPhone, and my planned migration in February '09 is fraught with apprehension. Even today, we're getting reports of widespread AT&T outages!! I've been with Sprint since 1997, and I love the stable, fast network and the fact that when I make a call, it sounds like I'm talking on a landline. When I talk to my friends who have iPhones, it sounds like a cellphone, if you get what I mean.
I love Apple, and I sing the praises of Apple computers at every chance. I can't wait to have a mobile device that sycs my contacts, calendar and email over the air automatically with my other 2 macs. But I can't help but feel like I'm compromising to make the switch.
~Trav
PS. If anyone thinks there's such a thing as a big "American" company in this global economy, you're deluding yourselves. Even Apple spends billions overseas. It's just the way it is. Buy the best product from whomever makes it. If you really want to make a difference, shop locally rather than on the internet. But only if you want to positively impact your communities. :-)
now I wonder will Neonode a swedish company making their Neonode N1 and N2 phone start studying the patent and wondering can they sue Apple...it sound very familiar to their Z force interface which uses a lot of swiping to do command...
of course I notice some of the brief info do seem different from the implementation