New Apple patent applications describe a new trackpad design and also FingerWorks-like gestures for doing common tasks like Copy, Paste etc. Those of you who are convinced an Apple tablet is on its way should get a head start and start learning the gestures- there are only thirty-eight! As soon as you buy the Apple tablet you can impress everyone with your mastering of the “exit application” gesture- it’s easy and ‘involves a touch with clockwise rotation of spread thumb and three fingers on the track pad device.’

Apple has applied for lots of patents for touchsensitive iPod/tablets but what does this mean? Are these patent applications going to become actual products? This article looks at Apple’s track record for patenting released products.

Operation of a computer with touch screen interface

It is desirable to use the information about a user’s actions to make the user experience with the computer, via the touch screen virtual keyboard, more powerful than is usual (or, perhaps, even possible) with computers using external keyboards.

Glimpse of Apple’s OS X 10.5 – Leopard in Pat. Apps? Some Apple patents for Spotlight have recently surfaced and they show sides of the Finder we haven’t seen before. Apple is expected to release the next version of OS X – 10.5 “Leopard” by the end of 2006 or early 2007. Little information has [...]

Apple has decided to lodge a Patent Application covering the use of a wide trackpad in a Power/MacBook. Nothing too earth shattering and it doesn’t appear to be a multipoint touchpad like described in previous patent applications.

Touchscreen video iPod? fact or fiction?
I want to believe! I hope Apple makes the touchscreen video iPod and soon- but I don’t think this latest mock up is the real thing.

Apple improved metadata using OCR and voice recognition

Apple has decided to get all Startrek on us with this patent application.

The problem with metdata is that it’s a bit boring- here is an excerpt from a digital photograph (mdls is a useful commandline tool that lists all a files metdata):

Another article in the series on Apple’s plans for Spotlight: Hierarchical Nested “Smart Folders” and (more) Human Readable Queries

Apple, Chardonnay, Leopard and Spotlight
Apple’s Patent applications offer new insight into Spotlight and perhaps OS X 10.5

Apple applies for MORE patents for a touch screen user interface- this time it’s how the virtual keyboard would appear on screen. Will this flow of patent applications never cease? Does a million patent applications make a product or are they merely trying to get some licensing returns from end-of-line projects?