An interesting Apple patent filing submitted in October 2010 (before the original iPad was unveiled) but only just published, appears to show the future of multitouch and it’s a major leap from the simple pinch and spread motions we’re currently used to.
The detailed document describes physical actions that could have us flicking and pouring files between our iPads and iPhones. If Apple puts these future multitouch plans into place, it could mean the death of the aging desktop metaphor…
The iPad 2 is still a mystery besides the rapidly racking up pile of rumours but now the iOS 4.3 beta has been pushed to developers by Apple brining clues about the next generation tablet with it. iOS 4.3 brings new gestures with it, specifically for the iPad including “pinch to home screen”, “swipe to reveal multitasking tray” and “swipe left/right to switch apps”. iOS 4.3 also opens up the option to decide whether to use the side switch on the iPad for mute or screen lock rather than being dictated by Apple. The timing of the iOS 4.3 beta is interesting too, perfectly positioned for an iPad 2 February launch…
The Microsoft Kinect hacks are coming thick and fast. God bless you Adafruit and your Kinect hack bounty! Clever code wranglers have managed to create a Kinect Multitouch mashup and even create a Kinect Mac interface. We’re move than a little impressed and if you jump through to the other side and watch the videos, you will be too!
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Multi-touch monitors? We all know Steve Jobs’ opinion on them: “touch surfaces don’t want to be vertical,” he said when previewing OS X Lion earlier this week. “It doesn’t work, it’s ergonomically terrible. Touch surfaces want to be horizontal.” Well, screw you, Jobs! Viewsonic has gone and created a doozy of a multi-touch monitor anyway!
Our new iPod nano review reveals we weren’t exactly blown away by its multitouch support but the folks at iFixit have gone even further. In a blog post to accompany one of its trademark iPod teardowns, iFixit CEO, Kyle Wiens says: “Apple is seriously reaching by calling the nano ‘multi-touch’.” He says Apple sources have whispered to him that the new iPod nano has multitouch skills that haven’t been activated…
Update: new iPod nano UK pricing has been revealed! The 8GB new iPod nano is available to preorder now for £129. The 16GB model is £159.
Those new iPod nano case leaks we saw last week were bang on the money: in the biggest shake up to Apple’s wildly popular MP3 player line yet, it’s ditched the rectangle format in exchange for a small, square shape and a tiny touchscreen. It is a stunner. Head through for details.
The Apple Magic Trackpad adds a new gesture to the ranks of the multitouch swipes and pinches. As well as supporting the finger movements we’re used to on the Macbook Pro, it introduces a new three-fingered gesture that lets you fling windows round the screen. However, using the Magic Trackpad’s new gesture means you have to give up the ability to use a swipe to flick through galleries in iPhoto. Hopefully there’s more secrets to be unlocked from Apple’s pretty new peripheral. We’ll be putting it through its paces as soon as humanly possible.
Apple has plans for invisible Macbook buttons. It’s not some kind of Harry Potter style wizardry but the next step in Jonathan Ive’s quest to banish visible buttons for good. The new Apple patent application takes tech already at work in the Magic Mouse to the next level and could build invisible touch and pressure sensitive controls right into the body of future Macbook and Macbook Pro models.
