Apple patent app reveals back-side interface for handhelds
It looks like Apple has at least one solution to the increasing problem of maintaining some degree of usability on ever-shrinking handheld devices, with a recent patent application revealing a bit of the company's thinking on the matter. As many of you would no doubt arrive at yourself, Apple has come up with the bright idea of simply moving the controls to the back of the device, although they aren't just slapping a standard click-wheel on there, instead employing a complete "force-sensitive touch-surface." That'll supposedly not only allow for the usual scrolling and selecting, but full cursor movement as well, with nothing but screen on the front of the device. Of course, there's no indication when this might actually find its way into an iPod -- or, as Unwired View speculates, a potential iPhone nano -- but it would seem to be decidedly less far-fetched than some of the patent applications we've come across.
[Via Unwired View]
