Of all the surprises we expected to hear about in the
WWDC keynote, a multitouch trackpad peripheral didn't exactly pop into our brains. But -- whoomp -- here it is. What we appear to be looking at is a brand new input device that Apple has dreamed up which connects to desktops (and laptops, if you like) via Bluetooth, much like the Apple Keyboard. If you take what you see in the photos at face value, it would seem that the folks in Cupertino are making a play for finger-based input in a big way -- taking the work they've done on Mac laptops and the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and translating it to the desktop realm. This weirdly lines up perfectly with rumors from earlier in the year, emanating from both John Gruber (of
Daring Fireball fame), and
MacRumors -- the former reporting that Apple was set to release a "Mentioned-Nowhere-Else-But-in-This-Very-Headline Multi-Touch Trackpad Gadget for Desktop Macs," and the latter taking notice of an Apple
trademark application for the "Magic Trackpad." It certainly all makes sense given that the company has made not-so-subtle moves away from standard input devices to finger-friendly options in many,
many of its recent products. Whatever the case may be, we're potentially just hours away from the truth, so feast your eyes on the photos, and get ready for the big reveal.
Update: New images received with a claim that the device supports
handwriting recognition in addition to "every feature you can find on a Magic Mouse (and possibly features of a MacBook Pro trackpad)." This, from a person who claims to be personally testing it. Something we hope to do for ourselves
before the day is through.
Update 2: Reader Dan Berte made a quick little
cardboard mockup using his Apple keyboard and Magic Mouse for relative sizing and he's estimating the tracking area to be around six inches diagonal. Makes sense -- check his handiwork after the break.
posted June 7th 2010 8:52AM
@potretr
BREAKING: Trackpads, lame, Apple trackpads, worse than most!
Seriously, i hate not having 'proper' buttons at the bottom of my trackpad. its the worst part of my macbook by far.
I guess if you can convince people to suffer through using a magic mouse all day, you can convince them of anything however.
@Punisher Plum
its called a touchpad. i havent heard anyone call this a trackpad since the 90s
@Punisher Plum
the magic mouse without the mouse part. zomg innovative and magical! WOW SO AMAZING
@WindowPhoneOwnsAndroid i cannot wait for you to be banned...
This could be interesting, of course it will depend on the software integration with the OS
I have never found Apple mice particularly ergonomic. For my MacPro I would love to have a Bluetooth keyboard with a lightly oversized trackpad at the bottom, i hope this is in the pipeline.
@WindowPhoneOwnsAndroid "i havent heard anyone call this a trackpad since the 90s"
...That's because you only read the internet in the basement at your mom's house.
ZING!
@hey buddy
Wow, this is the oblivion thread.
@Cy Starkman
This will be a way to control a CURSOR ON THE IPAD anyone? seems functional for the iWork apps.
@scottkrk
Apple trackpads are undeniably nice to use, but that's nice compared to other trackpads. Compared to a good mouse a trackpad will always be slower.
I'm also really not sold on all the gestures that Apple want to implement, the only one that works is two finger scrolling.
What they are inventing is a graphics tablet without the pen. Can you imagine graphic designers drawing with their finger? Neither can I.
@lookseehear Saying that though, a new product and more choice for the consumer is never a bad thing. As long as you're never forced to use it...
@ttennebk
I'll wait another view hours to let Steve explain it to me. Right now it just looks like a graphics tablet with finger touch capability to me.
@SeeKo
*few hours ;-)
@lookseehear 4 Finger Exposé works really well too. My most used gesture.
@scottkrk So this is competition for Wacom tablets.
@Punisher Plum
"BREAKING: Trackpads, lame, Apple trackpads, worse than most!
Seriously, i hate not having 'proper' buttons at the bottom of my trackpad. its the worst part of my macbook by far."
I really couldn't disagree with this more. The MacBook Pro trackpads are the best trackpads I've ever used. For me this is what sets MacBooks above regular laptops. They're almost as good to use as a mouse in my opinion.
The only thing this is missing is a middle click equivalent to open links in tabs when browsing. But obviously I can just hold down cmd and click for that.
@MySchizoBuddy Yeah, I'm pretty sure Wacom already makes these. http://www.wacom.com/bamboo/bamboo_pen_touch.php Apple didn't dream it up.
@scottkrk http://vimeo.com/6712657
@lookseehear http://post.monome.org/comments.php?DiscussionID=8454&page=1#Item_6
@GaryEmery
Install better touch tool! You can assign all sorts... 1 - 5 finger gestures - Even 11 finger whole hand to what ever you need. inc middle click... 3 finger tap > middle click for example.
http://blog.boastr.net/?page_id=1722
Works Great and Best of all - it's completely Free.
@prowlmedia
That sounds excellent, thanks for the tip.
@adamz
yes wacom already makes the bamboo but for $99.
If Apple offers for less than that while having a similarly sized active area... it is a win for consumers.
@Maxwell That's what she said. bada bing.com
Sorry, I know it's early. I'll quit.
@scottkrk i dont quite get this product...i quite like having a physical mouse that fills my hand when im at a desktop.
also handwriting recognition?! apple has been so anti pen input devices i find this very hard to believe...i think this product is a possibility but im afraid im more skeptical then engadget on this one
@SteveyAyo
all you folks wondering about middle click there is a great piece of software for you
http://clement.beffa.org/labs/projects/middleclick/
@GaryEmery download "better touch tool" for free and configure 3 finger tap as middle click :-)
http://download.boastr.net/btt.zip
@SeeKo
But this one has magical powers.
@ttennebk Why not just use the touchscreen on the iPad then. After all this is just a multitouch display minus an lcd behind it. But that's all beside the point, Apple has very specifically moved away from the mouse/cursor paradigm in the mobile space and for good reason.
@Punisher Plum
Not something I would personally buy but it matches the Apple bluetooth wireless keyboard perfectly.
@adamz Oh really? You can use your fingers as input on that POS Wacom?
@lookseehear Doesn't David Hockney draw on his iPad? But I guess one of the worlds' greatest living artists doesn't know what he is doing when he uses his fingers.
@adamz Thats not made by Apple, so it won't ever be "magical" or "revolutionary". It will just be, well, a product. ;)
@peterjohndean I wasn't talking about "one of the most influential British artists of the twentieth century", I was talking about design professionals who use Wacom tablets every day.
David hockney could probably paint well using his nose, it's no surprise he can make a nice picture on an ipad.
@WindowPhoneOwnsAndroid ZOMG WOW YOU ARE SO STUPID... Oh wait... That must be normal for you.
@scottkrk i would SO love to have a large touchpad just like those macbook ones for my 27 imac!!!
@lookseehear
Though Ten Ones Inket application and Pogo sketch pen could make this a nice entry level drawing tablet if its priced well / bundled with new Macs
http://tenonedesign.com/inklet.php
@SteveyAyo
Why should he/she be banned. For not liking Apple touchpads?
@SeeKo
No!! The device definitely doesn't exist. It's definitely not a pen & touch tablet that I have 20 inches from me. Apple invented it (will be said in just couple of hours..).
@huzzlehoff Right on!
@scottkrk
http://vimeo.com/6712657
SOLD. After watching that video, I want this thing even more than I want a new iPhone!!! It could simultanously obsolete both the Keyboard and the Mouse, and the iPad even.
God I hope that video comes true, and they implement it alongside Google TV/Apple TV so that I could use it in my living room, on my 1080p set.
@wikoogle Apple: Shit ... there goes our 1 wwdc surprise left.
@GaryEmery thats seriously the reason why i haven't bought a legit mouse yet. That is probably the best part of the mbp
@metalhaze "Oh really? You can use your fingers as input on that POS Wacom?"
Um. Can you use your fingers as input for the "Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch"...? Hmmm. Yes. Yes you can. Multitouch + pen input. It's sort of right there in the actual link, if you look at it. And in the article itself if you follow the link. And in the name of the device. And the articles that tech sites like engadget did. It came out this past autumn, if I recall correctly. So... to recap: Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch: supports pen and touch input. Just sayin'.
@huzzlehoff No, because he is an annoying little troll who goes around flame baiting without any sort of intelligent argument to go with it. I dont mind offering a negative opinion towards a device/product but not if youre "opinion" is everything else is lame and youre a moron for not liking exactly what i have, youre such a stupid fanboy for disagreeing with me... pointless drivel
@Maxwell
I actually use 3 finger swipe right/left in Safari too very useful, and makes life alot easier
@lookseehear
EXACTLY. it would be perfect for artists, comparible to the popular wacom tablets but made especially for macs. Of course, if Apple included a great pressure sensitive pen with this, we'd know they blew it ;)
@hey buddy you cant add zing to your own posts!
this seems like a super intutive way to use my desktop
@CPTMuggle This reminds me of a video Paul Miller posted a while back showing a trackpad ui concept. It was sort of like webos for the desktop using a trackpad. Really cool concept.
@thomasaquinas
this one? http://10gui.com/video/
it was the first thing that came into my head when i saw this.
it would be cool if it does pen input too for drawing etc but i fear that apple are against styli.
@dovemouse
That's a very cool concept and a very nice vid to explain it indeed. I saw this almost a year ago and I can only say it would be extremely cool if Apple will release something similar to it with this touchpad. 10-finger control computer might very be the next revolutution in human-computer interaction, if you think about it, it's just a plain and stupid QWERTY-phenomenon that we're all still using a single mouse cursor as the only way to interact with computers.