Apple patents a desktop touch-screen computer

Advertisement
By Nick Bilton, NYT News Service | Updated: 6 June 2012 14:55 IST
Highlights
  • You can touch your iPod, changing songs with the swipe of a finger. You can touch your iPhone, clicking away on a virtual keyboard or zooming into images and maps. You can touch your iPad, flipping though a book or digital magazine or playing games on the
Apple patents a desktop touch-screen computer
It was only a matter of time.

You can touch your iPod, changing songs with the swipe of a finger. You can touch your iPhone, clicking away on a virtual keyboard or zooming into images and maps. You can touch your iPad, flipping though a book or digital magazine or playing games on the 9-inch screen. So it only makes sense that you should be able to touch your iMac.

A European patent uncovered by the blog Patently Apple indicates that Apple could bring multitouch to the desktop, giving computer users the ability to touch the screen of the display in addition to the computer's keyboard.

The patent shows a series of sensors that could be added to a standard iMac, including an accelerometer to detect the angle of the screen and in turn change the display's resolution or orientation.

As the illustrations and accompanying descriptions indicate, swiveling the screen down to a touch-screen experience could also disable the keyboard and mouse and show a different style of operating system designed for touch.

In the touch-screen mode the patent also shows a new type of interface that looks very similar to iOS, the operating system used on the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

It was only a matter of time for iOS to appear on the desktop.
touchscreen interface for iMac touch

As I wrote in a blog post earlier this year, engineers inside Apple told me that transitioning some Mac computer models and laptops to an operating system similar to the ultrasimple and accessible interface used on the iPhone and iPad would make sense from a consumer standpoint.

The simplicity of the iOS could be a big draw for computer owners as it vastly reduces the struggle many non-techies have when trying to find or save files on a traditional desktop operating system.

Although it would be difficult to build a new desktop user interface from the ground up, one engineer told me that it would be easy to add the "iPhone OS as a layer on top of OS X, similar to Apple's Front Row experience" used to watch movies and listen to music.

Finally, the patent also depicts a tablet computer that comes with a full multitouch screen and and a regular laptop keyboard and mouse. The laptop tablet illustration seems to have a swivel hinge in the center of the screen that could possibly flip around to create an iPad-like screen when the keyboard is not in use.

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. 5 Must-Have Samsung Products Every Student Needs in 2025
  1. Webb Telescope Uncovers Hidden Active Galactic Nuclei
  2. SpaceX Starship Flight 9 Reuses Booster, Gathers Key Data Despite Loss
  3. 7,100-Year-Old Skeleton Reveals Unknown Human Lineage in China
  4. SpaceX Aims to Break Launch Record With 170 Orbital Liftoffs Planned for 2025
  5. Scientists Capture Plasma Streams, Coronal Raindrops in Sharpest-Ever View of Sun’s Corona
  6. The Traitor OTT Release Date: When and Where to Watch Uorfi Javed, Karan Kundra Starrer Reality Show Online?
  7. Nizarkudai Now Available for Streaming on Aha Tamil: What You Need to Know
  8. Big Ben OTT Release: When and Where to Watch Malayalam Movie Online?
  9. Akkada Ammayi ikkada Abbayi Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
  10. Vaanil Thedinen Now Streaming on Aha Tamil: Everything You Need to Know
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2025. All rights reserved.