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Touch Sensitive iPod Patent Pictures

hrmpf.com — Patent pictures for Apples new patent. Looks like an iPod to me.

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  • psients, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Holy *****!

    It's coming! It's really coming! :*D
  • bryant, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The problem this presents: major smudging and scratching of the screen.
  • Vladk1000, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I think it should come with a stylus. I know it would be annoying to have to carry a little stick with you, but they could make it clip on to the iPod. The pictures only show it being used with fingers, but with a stylus, you won't have any problems with smudging.
    _________________________
    http://ultra-tech.blogspot.com/
  • Kiltak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I was going to say that this was all made up at first, until I looked at official patent on the US trademark website.. This is all official stuff guys.. The plans and everything are right on there.
  • sabster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0looks cool but from the resolution looks likes its going to be the same size.. please FULL WIDESCREEN IPOD
  • bradspry, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1FIG 38H is kind of suggestive. The wwo iPod wheels look like nips on the screen, although one is smaller than the other. I can live with that. Some models may have inverted center buttons.
  • bfbraum, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Add a stylus, definitely. And since you've got that, you can now add all sorts of text apps, like one that lets you take notes on the fly. And why not add Bluetooth / Wi-Fi while you're at it? Then you could leverage the text capacity into web browsing and e-mail!

    Hey, I just came up with a great name for this new invention: the iPaq.
  • schadenfreude52, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0hasnt this been posted at least 5 times?
  • tetro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0They should call this the iNewton
  • cyberghost232, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3No. They should call this the iDont care.
  • solarwinds, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Why are people so excited about this? This is nothing to get excited about

    Think about it: Palm Pilots which play MP3s have been doing this for years. Palm OS 5.0+, Windows Mobile OS, etc. They have touch screen MP3 players which can also play video too.........ANY FORMAT, not Apples silly proprietary formats

    Apple fanboys make it seem like everything Apple does is unique, and that they invented it. I don't agree though. No Digg
  • Yankees368, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0"No. They should call this the iDont care."

    hahaha
  • RogueX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0no, you're missing the point. the innovation here is the ability for multiple touch inputs at once. To me, this sounds like a very powerful concept, if not something that will take some getting used to.
  • damonlab, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I fail to see how this is an original idea. Not worthy of a patent.
  • felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Patents != products going to market.

    I wouldn't be shocked if some kind of tablet media center came from Apple one day, maybe based on this patent, but I would be suprised to see the "true" video iPod work this way. I have to go along with the other 242,000 commenters who worry about fingerprints.

    I was thinking about this a little today, and thought it might be best to have a clickable, pressure-sensitive scroll pad on the side, instead. Here's a sketch: http://www.permission3000.com/vpod.html
  • saichele, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1every negative I read about this focuses on smudging and scratching of the screen. My question is: What about battery life?! Has anyone tried watching full length movies on the 5g ipods? I have, and you're maxing out at 3 hours on the 60gig - and that's with a new battery. I can only imagine that trying to drive a screen of this size is going to create a real brick of a device due to the necessary increase in battery size.
  • emblym, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1"...ANY FORMAT, not Apples silly proprietary formats"

    Name one format that the iPod plays that is proprietary. Please.
  • SuperSunny, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0obviously other devices have touch screen capabilities, but they aren't used to an extent to understand the media/people. Apple Invented this unique idea of Touch Screen they are using. If you think they're saying they invented touch-screen, you're completely wrong.

    If you don't care, I doubt many people care about your not-caring opinion, so leave it out. Don't bash it.

    I am also 100% positive Apple is smart enough to do something to the screen that prevents/lowers smudges. It would be completely bogus and stupid if they did not, it's obvious and there. Look ahead, don't look below.

    Um...who the hell says Apple Fanboys make it so that Apple does everything unique? Er, wtf? Ever hear of innovation, design, and attraction? If you hate the product, oh well, go ignore it and talk about something else. The amount of Apple bashers has gone WAY beyond the amount of Apple lovers. Go research the player and learn why it was so successful.
  • SuperSunny, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Sorry for extra post, but Apple and that other company did talk about new improved battery technology that allowed the battery to last incredibly longer.
  • playbombcom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0hmm, this looks so much like that mockup that i think the mockup was actually a planned piece to soften the impact of the patent. the mockup sort of showed that this can be cool, because as cool as this ipod would be, there is nothing flashy about the patent pictures.

    if not: then my oh my uncanny timing
  • felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0That patent makes for some great reading. It really does seem like the video that was up on Digg a few days ago would represent the system shown in the patent. C'mon, iTablet...
  • fartingmenace42, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0this looks more like the Apple tablet patent than an iPod.
  • luke--, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0this is going to be huge...unless it's a laptop
  • Agent_M, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0They're probably just registering the patent to make sure their competitors don't beat them to the punch. I'm sure they've had this idea for a while now anyway.
  • Spazkake, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Palm has been around for ever but fanboys only want their white devices. So stupid.
  • mtsoul, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0A 7" tablet with touch-screen sensitive keyboard on the screen would be so useful. It will > laptop for any scholar.
  • stark23x, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is kind of a stupid design idea. If it's touch sensitive, why can't I just touch the item instead of using a "virtual" wheel? It's a completely unnecessary extra step.
  • cheesetoe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0http://www.tuaw.com/2006/02/10/more-ipod-video-mock-ups-surface/
  • Batiu-Drami, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Name one format that the iPod plays that is proprietary. Please."

    .m4a .m4b .m4p .mp4
  • Pas3n7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Uhhhh, you guys know that companies file for patents if they think that they might one day want to make a drawing on a napkin, right? You might see this in 20 years, you might see this tomorrow, you might never see this come to be.

    like felchdonkey said, "Patents != products going to market."
  • L2006, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Does anyone think the Ipod looks *****?
  • g_byte, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Please digg this if you hate all the apple stories: http://www.digg.com/technology/Digg_this_if_you_hate_all_the_Apple_stories_
  • kalisphoenix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Hmm. The (X)(-)(+) buttons are on the right side of the, uh, bar thing (it's late) in the iTunes images. And the iTunes faux-LCD display thing is round, whereas they've been lozenge-shaped for a couple revisions now. Another couple differences in the interfaces between current stuff and the things in this patent. Part of me (the suspicious, evil, dirty part) makes me think that Apple's been working on this for a while.

    Perhaps we're seeing the 30th-Anniversary Mac. It wouldn't surprise me a bit.
  • tavisjohn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Um.... My LifeDrive already does all that... I can use it with my Finger, or with the Stylus that came with it. In fact my Treo600 does that too! In fact so did my Sony NR70V, and my Palm IIIC... And even my Palm III and IV!

    So.... How is this different?
  • idesign562, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0FYI: Patent images are usually mock-ups and have been submitted for a loooong time, they usually dont get "publicized" until they have been in the patent off for a while. Therefore, rounded corners on iTunes, BIG iPod.

    But onto the topic. ***** BADASS!
  • alex.will, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I really dont see the appeal of carrying something the size of a ***** tablet pc in my pocket... Besides, why do you need a touch screen if theres already a wheel? IMO the current iPod is a superior design.
  • The_Decryptor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Name one format that the iPod plays that is proprietary. Please."

    ".m4a .m4b .m4p .mp4"

    All MPEG-4 file containers, apart from m4p which has the FairPlay DRM.
  • aquax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Name one format that the iPod plays that is proprietary. Please."

    ".m4a .m4b .m4p .mp4"

    All of those are variants of MPEG-4 Part 14 (or Part 10, for H.264), which is hardly proprietary. MPEG-4 was agreed upon by the Motion Picture Experts Group, so it's as proprietary as MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 (which means, it's not). The only exception is .m4p which has the FairPlay DRM scheme being used.

    Case in point, both Creative and iRiver make devices capable of playing MPEG-4.

    Perhaps you're confusing the concept of "proprietary formats" and "established standard formats". Just because a device supports a newer, more cutting edge codec and doesn't support any older ones doesn't mean the formats it plays are proprietary.
  • aquax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Edit: that's supposed to be "doesn't support many older ones".

    On a side note, is the US Patent office wrong on their dates, or did this patent get filed over a year ago? I see Jan 18, 2005 listed on the linked patent page.
  • dgcrazykid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0forget ipod, can you say tablet ibook? or what ever it will be called.
  • Mongoose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0VERY seksi..... I'll be watching this intently until I can get my hands on one.
  • MonkeyFit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Name one format that the iPod plays that is proprietary. Please."

    You can say it's MPEG-4 all you want, but as long as it's in a .mov shell, it's a proprietary format. And then you also have .m4p, which aquax pointed out has the Fairplay DRM, which only Apple seems to use.
  • yanked, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0My guess is that when they filed this patent, they expected the product to be out by now (obviously something else was planned for the January expo). On the other hand, most of the other Apple patents that have gotten publicity over the last few years haven't, as far as I recall, developed into products as identical to the patent as people expect this ipod to be. Any counter-examples come to mind?
  • slurpee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I say this iPod wont' come out now, MAYBE LATER THIS YEAR around Xmas time. Because They need to boost sale at that time, and Video and Nano just come out.

    This April or March I think just Apple Express Video, and iMac Mini

    just my 2cent :p
  • edwardfrench, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0To me the patent looks really flaky: Claim 1 is "A user interface method, comprising: detecting a touch; determining a user interface mode when a touch is detected; displaying one or more GUI elements based on the user interface mode; and enabling the functionality of the GUI element." PocketPC's and Palms have done this for years- you touch the screen to select keyboard/graffiti/whatever (surely a "user interface mode", and it displays the appropriate GUI element. If this gets to grant without MAJOR amendment the USPTO is truly broken! The cynic in me would say the only point of filing a patent as weak as this is to wind up the competition?
  • ronaldpoi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1People already know about this iPod... they can't hide it to much time or there wont be 5th generation sells 'cause people will be waiting until this is released... i hope they release it on April... the longer i think they could hide it is July... no more...
  • psients, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Of course patents != products coming to market. But you guys don't know Apple. They've been more likely to not patent something and release it than to patent and not release.

    Plus, this is a patent for a technology, not a product per se. I'd be happy to have this functionality in ANY product, so I can futz with it.
  • psients, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Oh yeah.

    And this could all be one big APRIL FOOL'S JOKE.
  • mdmoya, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Name one format that the iPod plays that is proprietary. Please."
    Apple Lossless, anyone?
  • timmarhy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0ffs they shouldn't be allowed this patent.
    my touch screen pda does this exact same thing now. this is a BAD PATENT
    no digg
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