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58 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+29this is a weird, though somewhat clever, idea. we'll probably never see it though.
does anyone else get the feeling that whenever someone working at apple presents a decent idea, they get a response like, "eh, just go patent it. i'll look at it more closely when i have time."
btw, iggywig, patents are public record. no cease and decists, here. - FKnight, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Works fine here.
- dshPls, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Ah no....Verizon has a phone like this, and it's a horrible idea to use the front AND back on a device.
- miles01110, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10I'm 99% sure that this technology will be used for the iPhone, not the iPod. Think about it.
- GravitySpec, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9@Munkey106
"...but how are you supposed to type from the BACK? That would be tough and would slow you [me] down a lot!"
I'm sorry, you must be new to the internet... we flip it over. -_- - iainwall, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7There's no point in getting excited about this anyone!
When has an Apple product ever looked like, or performed like, people speculated over their patents.
I like to think of myself as an 'Apple fan', but even this makes me yawn - Munkey106, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7That whole back-side touch sensitive thing is a great idea, especially for smudges and all...
...but how are you supposed to type from the BACK? That would be tough and would slow you [me] down a lot! - Wesside, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Buried because its already on the front page....its even the exact same article.
- dreadsword, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6At least the horrible mutant Apple HAND OF DEATH isn't in these illustrations.
See these illustrations:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/notag/next+gen-mighty-mouse-will-be-nipple+less-251821.php - Philluminati, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Let me be the first to say I think it looks like a really innovative product.
- JoeBaynham, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Its an iPhone.. its got a dialing screen.
- carniv0re, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Munkey106: Good question. They could make it so that the display shows an overlay of the buttons on the opposite side. Or they could just have indentations or some kind of tactile difference on one of the buttons for reference.
- StandardsDT, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@GravitySpec
And then how would you be able to see the actual out put? Have you heard of spelling mistakes? That would be a pain in it's self to have to constantly flip it to check your spelling is correct and then to flip it back over to type again. - cleverhanz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3it displays the keyboard on top, you touch it from the back side.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@skyscape...
yeah... microsoft is all about functionality. - Nerevar, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Apple files yet another patent of something they'll never actually manufacture.
YAWN
Why are there two stores about this on the frontpage!?!?! - rebopper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I read it as, "Apple filling" and thought, "how peculiar..."
- PsycoMonkey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3The force is strong with this one.....
- GravitySpec, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@StandardsDT
Amazing... why didn't I think about that? Oh yeah... I actually read the article and looked at the pictures! It shows that the keyboard interface would show what you type right above the digital keypad. Thinking is good... but keep it in moderation. -_- - jarrydm, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Vy the way did anyone notice that on the image with the keyvoard there is no letter V, it is a V instead?
- jesse9300, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ skyscape
verizon doesnt make phones. they get contracts from co. who make phones. no one would try to rip off some ***** verizon phone anyways.
@reinhart
i see your point, but come on, who doesnt like brownies?? if they were smart they would have some sort of trade in system in place and just start whoring these things out like cars. then they could also pick up ppl who dont have an ipod bc of cost, utilizing the "preowned" market.
and another thing. this is obviously not a new proposal. for one theres no way a sweet huge co. like apple would let some prototype diagrams like this slip through their fingers and into the public domain. secondly, it is obviously a phone. the beginnings of a phone. which we are all well aware they have found their idea, stuck with it and it will be coming out soon, this is not going to be a next gen. if anything it would be a step backwards. - etandrib, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I disagree. This how they make the iPhone Nano without competing with the iPhone's cool multi-touch screen. This technology is better on a smaller device like a Nano. It wouldn't be able to a lot of the iPhone can do but it would be a full screen iPod and a phone with simple SMS - and it works. Pick up your Nano (sorry if you don't have one) and try it out. It really works and feels right in the hand. With the Ghost interface you can scroll, dial, and even type (that may be more difficult to get used to) easily without smugging the screen!
Fantastic! Leave it to Apple to take someone's bad implementation and make it work beautifully! - Luigi30, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yes, please push my Apple stock up further and further!
- pickypg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't want a sensitive touch screen. My iPod nano (Gen 1) got scratched up pretty bad as it is before I bought a rubber case to hold it in with cell phone screen protector for the screen, and the screen protectors make them look cheap (I do use them). Also, I work out with it, so sometimes it will scratch up or bump against things and I don't want it changing songs on me--and I don't want to be forced (no pun intended) to lock it every time I feel like moving so that doesn't happen.
Basically, Apple, don't over do it. - therodersabides, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Did anyone else notice that the "D" on the keyboard was replaced with a "V". There were actually two "V"s on the keyboard.
- DooM, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Please stay away from my 'force-sensitive back-side interface' - I don't swing that way. :)
- yonah, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The idead of two-sided gadget isn´t new.. http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/0,39029453,49286848,00.htm
The reviews of these have been really bad, because you have to flip it around all the time. I wouldnt want one.. - FrostySol, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've been wondering why they hadn't done something like this sooner. The click wheel is so simple you don't need to look at it so it would make sense to move it to the back to allow for a larger screen on the front.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1stories about apple's patent filings are like collective daydreams. nice wastes of time.
- Eccohawk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm guessing most people here don't understand what the patent is describing/implying. First off, this patent could be used for either a next-gen iPod -or- a next gen iPhone, or both. There were separate diagrams displaying both a click wheel representation as well as the phone pad input. Secondly, the idea of having functionality on both the front and back side of a device is nothing new, and that's not what's being patented here. The idea here is that the input on the back, a force-feedback input, would be able to be 'viewed' from the front through software. Essentially as if you were looking through the device to the back, to know where your hands are placed, and therefore, able to navigate casually -without- having to flip the device over and over again.
An example of this would be that if you hover your finger with a light touch over the number '1' on the backside number pad, you would see a display on the front of the device with the number pad showing and the "1" key highlighted. Pressing harder on this area (see force-feedback) would then trigger the button and the key would show as being pressed on the screen on the front of the device.
Is it a new way to input data? yes. Will people quickly get used to it after using it for a short time? I'm betting so. Just as quickly as people have learned to speed-text using features like T9Word or other predictive text inputs, people will quickly pick up on this one too.
I think it's a brilliant way to do it. - p00pd0g, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's just the insider getting too excited, looking back at old patents for the iPhone... and dreaming too much about concept ideas. Thus all the errors in the pix.
- jarrydm, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1vamit i got the letter i was trying to point out that was incorrect, wrong.
- jesse9300, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1noobs
- DreKor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The trick to writing corporate patents is to describe a specific idea in broad enough terms that you can do anything. The basic idea is to be able to describe a Fish as a "carbon based life form capable of reproduction".
- Antialias, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1For the mass market, the iPod has become a fashion accessory rather than a gadget. Just as people buy new clothing, jackets, shoes each year, they much update their "look" with a new iPod each year. Heck Apple should start a lease program for iPods where people pay monthly and trade in each year, they might make more money that way. Personally I think it's ridiculous. I'm still using a 5gig gen1 ipod and the battery still charges great.
- phoomp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I don't see how this would be easy to use. It might work ok for scroll wheel functionality, but it would be a nightmare for the implied text entry functionality.
- DreKor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1that's a good word
- cleverhanz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Why?
- Topher06, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0How is it easier to use a scroll wheel on the back? Hold your current iPod in your hands (if you have one) and then look at the front while pretending to scroll something on the back. Sorry, tried it, doesn't seem very intuitive operation to me. If there is no touch feedback, then you probably will end up rubbing your finger in the wrong place and nothing will happen. I am sure Apple will come up with some novel idea if this is ever implemented, but the new touchscreen iPod will most likely have a virtual navigation on the front.
- Temple, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1How would you be able to see what you're tryping if the keys are on the bottom? We'll have to learn how to type from the underside.
- Hittman6, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1>>Does anyone else get the feeling that whenever someone working at apple presents a decent idea, they get a response like, "eh, just go patent it. i'll look at it more closely when i have time."
That's the way most companies operate. They'll patent anything they can, the moment they can, no matter how trivial, useless or obvious it is. - nevas, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I agree but might work out if done good which Apple does most of the time. I was wondering even the iPhone has similar keyboard onscreen so is this an ipod or a next version iphone?
- ferrell, on 10/12/2007, -6/+4"Backside interface"???
Sounds like something that most Apple users should adapt to quite easily! - jun2san, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1occlude?
- TimDigg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1wow... I guess I really need to patent more of my own ideas....I had the idea to control a device from behind last year
serves me right - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Uhh..why would an iPod need a T-9 interface as the picture suggests?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1It's a proposal
- n8r0n, on 10/12/2007, -9/+6iDupe.
- skyscape, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1this is a new version of iCrap
- skyscape, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0no, it looks like a stolen verizon idea.
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