Apple Awarded iPhone Interface Patent

Now, all mobile handsets and portable media players sporting multi-touch interfaces would be watched closely by Apple.Apple has now bagged a legal weapon in the form of a US patent for their multi-touchscreen interface to help them stand up strong against all iPhone killers. Issued last week, before Apple's announcement of its quarterly profits, the multi-page patent was issued from the US Patent and Trademark Office. Now, all mobile handsets and portable media players sporting iPhone-like multi-touch interfaces would be watched closely by Apple.

The US Patent 7479949 assigned to 'Steve Jobs et al' mentions about commanding a computing device, where the device detects commands by "detecting one or more finger contacts with the touchscreen display," which means that input gestures on Apple's handheld devices, the iPhone and the iPod Touch, such as pinching images, zooming, finger swiping, two-thumb twisting, or spreading to flip pages would be included.

In Steve Jobs absence, Tim Cooks, chief operating officer of Apple, issued an ominous warning to anyone who "rips off" Apple's intellectual property. However, Cook didn't mention any specific competitor and believes that Apple's touch control makes the iPhone "years ahead of competition."

AppleInsider points out that Palm's Pre handset will sport a gesture area for simple and intuitive gestures to navigate between menu items. The Palm Pre press release mentions: "The gesture area is separate from touchscreen."

It would be nice if handset makers took consumer behavior and needs into consideration rather than sheepishly following industry fads. Apple surely changed the paradigm of mobile phones with its iPhone. Innovations should challenge competitors and not the end users, who struggle to familiarize themselves with the innovations.

Source : Techtree.com India > News > Consumer Electronics > Apple Awarded iPhone Interface Patent