Touchscreen iMac Could Come from Old Apple Patent

A 2009 Apple patent application in Europe appears to describe a touchscreen iMac that could swivel to become flat. The touchscreen-and-keyboard application could also apply to Apple's portable devices. An analyst said Apple's patent for a possible touchscreen iMac is similar to Lenovo's IdeaPad U1 Hybrid, which uses both Windows and Linux.

Apple long ago made the transition from a company that makes news with its products to a company that makes news with products people think it may be making. Lately, it has become the company that makes news for what it reserves the right to do.

For the second day in a row, the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer giant has caused a stir with patent applications. On Monday it was for a system to allow tracking and deactivation of lost, stolen or misused phones, and on Tuesday it's for an application for a computer form factor that can handle both touchscreen and keyboard input, much like a growing number of smartphones.

The difference is that while the tracking patent was filed recently in the United States, the touchscreen patent was filed in Europe and is dated July 9, 2009. A blog that solely covers Apple patents discovered the application in the course of researching news of a rumored touchscreen iMac.

The application came before Apple's release of the much-anticipated and highly successful iPad tablet computer in January.

The application is titled Transitioning Between Modes of Input, and includes "Transitioning between a high-resolution input mode, such as a mouse-based interface, and a low-resolution input mode, such as a touch-based interface, is described. ... A change of orientation can be detected with one or more sensors, such as an accelerometer, position sensors, etc. Transitioning from one mode to another can include modifying an item displayed in the UI of the one mode into a corresponding item displayed in the UI of the other mode. The modifying can include enlarging/reducing, obscuring/unobscuring, moving, etc."

Apple published several diagrams from the application that show a desktop that can swivel from the traditional orientation facing the user to become flat, which would require the user to look down as touchscreen controls are activated.

"As the traditional PC and mobile-device ecosystems merge into a single computing market, companies will continue to innovate and find ways to engage and interact with the systems," said Jeff Orr, senior mobile-devices analyst at ABI Research. "The Apple patent suggests methods for switching between different usage scenarios -- at a desk and portable."

Orr noted that the concept is not unlike one demonstrated by Lenovo at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in January. Titled IdeaPad U1 Hybrid, that system runs like a Microsoft Windows system but can switch to a portable device running the Linux OS.

"The Always Innovating Touch Book is similar in versatility, but uses only one OS when switching form factors," Orr said. "The trend suggested by patent filings and vendor demonstrations is [toward] alternatives to implementing one operating-system software platform on every device that a user has. Instead, fitting each device with the most appropriate OS and some means to synchronize data alleviates the need for one mega-OS that does all."

Posted: 2010-08-25 @ 9:34am PT

I don't see where the similarity to the Lenova U1 comes from other than throwing around buzz words!

Posted: 2010-08-25 @ 2:16am PT

iPhone, super mobile, great for media, iPad, portable but powerful, amazing for media, iMac touch or whatever, stationary but ultrapowerful, one of the best media experiences ever. Looks to me like apple has a monopoly :)
Also meant to say that the iPhone has a super mobile optimized ios, the iPad has a portable but powerful optimized ios, this should have a solely power optimized ios variant.
LOVE the iPhone and iPad experience, especially enjoy movies on iPad with iPad video converter from iFunia, so handy and amazing, freewheelingly!