You know that little sleep indicator light on the front of your new MacBook Pro -- the one that simply disappears when your notebook is wide awake? Apple wants to do
that for buttons, too. Cupertino's
latest patent application is for pressure-sensitive, capacitive touchscreen materials it could build right into the surface of its aluminum-clad devices, and identify with laser-cut, micro-perforated holes that let light shine from within. According to the filing, the technology could potentially be used to eliminate existing buttons in favor of a smooth, solid slab, and / or integrate new ones into surfaces that weren't previously considered for use. Engineers imagine
light-up controls on a laptop's lid that could be used while closed for things like USB charging and media playback, and local heat and sound sensors that selectively light up interface opportunities when users are in close proximity. Not bad, Apple. As long as you let us keep our nice, springy keyboards, we're all for revolutionizing the rest of modern input.
posted April 30th 2010 7:26AM
That's actually pretty awesome. My MBP is getting older and older. :)
@zeroinfinity2 yupp MAC has come up with something good I'm digging it
@Jean Marc
No way. They have gone mad with power. I love my MBP keyboard, why the hell would I want to type on something that I can't feel?
@lexitu
It's not meant for typing, it's meant for simple, infrequently-used buttons like media playback.
@zeroinfinity2 no it's only one more step for a macbook wheel.
I called it :p
@zeroinfinity2
My old Chocolate cell phone had disappearing heat activated buttons and they were a pain in the ass. You never really knew if you'd touched one and often brushed over and "pressed" one by accident.
Rest your wrists wrong on the laptop and your music starts skipping lol.
@JamesR
By the sounds of it, these 'disappearing buttons' would not be functional whilst invisible. Instead, they would only be functional when you are doing something that requires the use of the buttons, like playing back media, in which case they would appear 'magically' for use.
But I could be wrong...
@Schmitty338
So wait... is this just like the buttons on my Logitech diNovo Edge keyboard? Or between the keyboard and the screen of my Dell Studio 17 laptop? Even if this is somehow different, it certainly doesn't sound "brilliant", ground breaking, or even different enough to be patentable. Can somebody explain this in a way to help me understand how this is innovation other than the fact it is finding a way around the hindrances of the mac book pro metal casing?
@zeroinfinity2
So many phones have come out over the last 5 years with this tech and it always provides a horrendous experience. As someone said above, even if it were to only appear when you're in the iTunes programs whats the point of it. I mean if I need to press a button to activate then I can just use my function keys just as well.
It would only make sense to have some kind of gesture to activate the button. But then you might get it wrong 2 or 4 times a day. That would roughly be 2 seconds in between tries. so 8 seconds wasted a day or 2920seconds wasted over a year because someone wanted to make their laptop line look spiffy. Stick to being minimalist. I'm not a Apple fan but they know how to do minimalist very well.
@Jean Marc
just a little pet hate: Mac is not an acronym, it's an abbreviation for Macintosh. Which means you don't put it in all caps. Mac not MAC.
and to the people saying it's unoriginal, well, i'd like to see it on the lid, as the article suggests, being able to have more control over sleep mode like that without having to open it would be cool.
@RowdyReptile So the technology already exist!? I saw the article and I was like Apple stole my idea lol. Did the Dell / chocolate / diNovo implementation allow for different input of the light up surface (media when playing media, navigation when browsing, 4ways dpad when editing a text, numpad when using a spreadsheet or a calculator etc. ) ?
Btw how can I patent an idea with no lawyer and money? I have some neat ideas (I know plenty of people does lol) I want to patent and use them in the future to build the next best thing for you all.
@RowdyReptile
Can somebody explain this in a way to help me understand how this is innovation other than the fact it is finding a way around the hindrances of the mac book pro metal casing?
That is kind of the point. Are all of those items you describe made out of one piece of metal? or are they plastic which light can get through really easily? You know light interface controls on a solid piece of metal is pretty tricky and cool, thus worth patenting. enough said.
I'm pretty sure that Gateway has used this on monitors for years. My FHD2400 has these buttons for power, the OSD menu, and volume control.
@zeroinfinity2
LMAO
@RowdyReptile
on the touchpad on dell precision laptops too... so they are trying to say they invented this stolen tech too?
So I'm logged in, but now all of a sudden Engadget claims it's going to E-mail me with a post confirmation. And never does. And that's only SOME of the time; other posts appear immediately.
WTF, let's get it together in 2010, Engadget.
@zeroinfinity2 Here we go again, I say just release it and let the public decide. Apple tablet patents that didn’t materialize- http://j.mp/apple-tablet-concepts
This must be a relatively old patent as that's the old Macbook pro
@himynameisnathan
Acer did it already:
http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/What%20Laptop/WLT%20125/WLT125.rev2.buildacer-420-90.jpg
Oh man I can see it coming. if you have a stylus, a task manager or a keyboard...
Tho I do wonder what kind of buttons you'll need to pop up other than the media ones? Like back and forward buttons if the on screen button or the ten keyboard shortcuts aren't good enough for you? But I guess most of the world doesn't know about keyboard shortcuts do they?
It is a pretty cool idea tho.
Form before Function?
Ive always liked a well defined button more than something i have to look down for, but I really don't care what Apple does anyways cause they have never been anything to me more than overpriced hardware
@hike15
Form before Function?
Looks like it's adding application based function to me.
@hike15 yeah, touch buttons totally suck. I had to use HP Pavulon (pun intentional) and it had a lots of touch media buttons above the keyboard. I turned on the media player software way too often. It was also a pretty heavy software, so it occasionally stopped my work for as long a minute. I know that a minute is not much, but if that happens in a middle of a Matlab session it feels like forever.
@7egend
Not 'function' as in what the buttons actually control, Form Vs Function of the button ITSELF. A raised button or something that allows you to identify what button you are touching without having to look down at it would be more productive, and thus the functional use of the button is greater VS the aesthetics of the button just being pretty and hiding itself when not in use.
Try taking a self-portrait with an HTC HD2 if you need a hands on lesson.
Seriously cool? Or just reinventing the wheel?
Pretty cool
as long as it's like a screen rather than a bespoke function, that would be truly useful for that empty space on laptops.
Now this is what a patent is supposed to be.
@Darkseider
Are you kidding?
Look, adding hidden buttons for functions on the laptop lid, yeah... that's a pretty good idea... or at least I'll say the majority feels that way.
But Apple didn't invent no stinking hidden or disappearing button tech... so what happens is Apple patents the buttons on the laptop lid... next thing you know they're suing Samsung for having hidden buttons on a Blu-ray player. Don't tell me otherwise cause Apple's history is proof in the pudding. What you all aren't getting is that Apple patents crap that other companies don't think to patent.
The Scroll Wheel... now THATS a good patent.
I can see it now... MacBook Pro "David Blaine" edition.
really hope they come through with the back of iphones being touch sensitive, even if it's just for scrolling.
would be a lot better over having you're finger covering the screen when scrolling.
Why do they keep on patenting what they didn't invent?
@SlimSpaceman And please don't tell me that you haven't seen a device with "dissapearing" buttons and/or screens before...
@SlimSpaceman
I'm with you on that one!!! I've seen it in so many various devices already none of them Apple's btw! :)
@SlimSpaceman
Its not the idea their patenting, its the tech behind an perhaps that is new.
Anyways that is just a guess, perhaps Apple just trying to patent ANYTHING they see.
Well whatever......
@MrKnowItAll There has to be a computer out there that has a metal touchpad, (capacitive or not) with something like a backlit scrollbar. If that's not the case, then at least I hope I've illustrated just how unjust a patent like this can be...
@SlimSpaceman
I have never seen a light up button that "disappears" when not lit up, or if I have, then you certainly couldn't press it like a button. I don't have a MacBook, so I can only imagine what this looks like.
@zangetsu2 Too many devices use that style to list here...
I don't understand how this is new: my Dell Studio XPS16 has a shiny black bar that is touch sensitive. When it's off there's nothing there, when it's on icons light up to toggle wifi, speaker volume etc.
@DuncanBooth
Apple's is silver! That makes it revolutionary!! :P
@DuncanBooth
There are also Acer laptops that do the exact same thing. This is the perfect example of how people fawn over Apple's so called innovations where other companies have been doing to same thing for years get overlooked.
Read it here first people, THIS IS NOT A NEW IDEA!
@DuncanBooth
The HP EliteBooks have the same thing too.
@DuncanBooth
Its NOT new... that's the point... Apple are the only ones shrewd enough to patent something that already exists.
On one hand, that breeds a ton of hate on Apple.
On the other hand, love or hate Apple, you almost have to ask why aren't other companies and manufacturers, now knowing how Apple operates, attempting to cut them off by applying for patents first?
You can hardly be mad at the fox when you left your chicken coop wide open.
So I can't blame Apple... I still think its crappy and still don't like Apple... but I can't blame them.
When Apple gets their patent, though, I can't wait for it immediately be invalidated due to prior art from Dell and HP. I fully expect Apple to sue until they're blue in the face, though.
@DuncanBooth It actually IS different than your Dell. Your little black touch sensitive panel is made out of plastic, not a solid piece of metal.
Yet another Patent Factory product. Apple will own us all.
Umm HP already does this, and really most companies starting copying them after they did it
It would be nice if CrApple patented a button that made them disapear entirely. Of course, nobody could copy it so it would only get rid of Apple forever. Do it Stevie, do it.
Transparent Aluminum. Invented on a Mac.
C.
Computer?
...Computer?
Ah. Hello, computer?
(Just use the keyboard...)
...The keyboard. How quaint!