Patent Application Points to Swipe Gestures for iPhone’s Virtual Keyboard
12:03 pm, December 26th, 2008, Lonnie Lazar
Apple may be adding useful swipe gesturing functionality to the virtual keyboard on the company’s mobile devices, according to a report at MacRumors.
Blogger Arnold Kim describes two potentially effective additions to Apple’s touch interface contained in a patent application filed yesterday with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Aside from the single finger swipes depicted in the diagrams below, multi-touch gestures (two and three fingers) could invoke other special functions. If a single finger left-swipe might delete a letter, a two finger left-swipe could delete a whole word, and a three finger left-swipe could delete a line. Similarly, a single finger right-swipe could add a space, while a two finger right-swipe could add a period. Up swipes and down swipes could also invoke different functions based on the number of fingers used.
As with Apple’s evolving multi-touch notebook trackpads, these optional functions could provide iPhone and iPod Touch users with useful and welcome shortcuts.
Posted by Lonnie Lazar in Apple, Rumors, Software, iPhone, iPod Touch | Comment on this article
Why hasn’t Palm disputed any of this? My recollection is they invented the “swipe” as a part of the user interface. Apple might be able to copyright or trademark some of this, but simply claiming patents on a left-swipe versus right-swipe versus diagonal seems pretty fishy. The multi-finger interface appears valid, but patenting specific motions is suspect. After all, why don’t I just file a patent for a double-finger loop? Then anyone who uses it has to pay me a royalty. If that works I’ll patent “Use of a single digit to evacuate mucus from olfactory canals.” Next time you pick your nose you’ll owe me a buck.
imajoebob, on December 29th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
hello it is test. WinRAR provides the full RAR and ZIP file support, can decompress CAB, GZIP, ACE and other archive formats.
geaoeryjnqhttebdgwitssghcmhmphtgbldhello
Noursuish, on December 30th, 2008 at 7:01 am
Phentrimine is used for treating female infertility.
AssollphentrimL, on January 17th, 2009 at 2:58 am
[...] Patent Application Points to Swipe Gestures for iPhone’s Virtual Keyboard (cultofmac.com) [...]
Leaked images of 3rd generation iPhone | James Glick's Blog, on June 22nd, 2009 at 3:24 pm