Apple patent for multi-functional handheld device

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
I need help from you guys to help me decipher what all this legalease means really. Here is the text from the patent that has been appearing on tech blogs today:



Quote:

An Apple patent (number 20080088602) for a multi-function handheld device has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. According to Apple the patent involves a multi-functional hand-held device capable of configuring user inputs based on how the device is to be used.



Preferably, the multi-functional hand-held device has at most only a few physical buttons, keys, or switches so that its display size can be substantially increased. The multi-functional hand-held device also incorporates a variety of input mechanisms, including touch sensitive screens, touch sensitive housings, display actuators, audio input, etc. The device also incorporates a user-configurable graphical user interface for each of the multiple functions of the devices.



In other words, by eliminating physical buttons, keys, or switches from a front surface of an electronic device, additional surface area becomes available for a larger display. Ultimately this strategy would allow a substantially full screen display, according to Apple. As used herein, a full screen display is a display that consumes, or at least dominates, a surface (e.g., front surface) of an electronic device.



Here?s Apple?s background on the invention: ?There exist today many types of hand-held electronic devices, each of which utilizes some sort of user interface. The user interface typically includes an output device in the form of a display, such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), and one or more input devices, which can be mechanically actuated (e.g., switches, buttons, keys, dials, joysticks, joy pads) or electrically activated (e.g., touch pads or touch screens). The display is typically configured to present visual information such as text and graphics, and the input devices are typically configured perform operations such as issuing commands, making selections or moving a cursor or selector in the electronic device. Each of these well known devices has considerations such as size and shape limitations, costs, functionality, complexity, etc. that must be taken into account when designing the hand-held electronic device. In most cases, the user interface is positioned on the front face (or front surface) of the hand-held device for easy viewing of the display and easy manipulation of the input devices.?



The inventor is Steve Hotelling. The graphic below is a simplified diagram of a multi-functional hand-held device.








Also of interest is a comprehensive version of this patent that has much more information. It was originally filed in 2006. The link is below and please read it because it contains many more pictures and descriptions and I wouldn't immediately dismiss this as simply the iphone patent.

I really think Apple is about to lay something big on us......soon. And not necessarily the iphone 2. Read the expanded patent below in the link to see what I mean. \



Apple files Multi-functional hand-held device patent application
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