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 December 26th 2008 10:58AM
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