Apple patents show convertible tablet, MagSafe optical data connector

13»

Comments

  • Reply 41 of 52
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Aizmov View Post


    In time for Mac OS 11 merging iOS and Mac OS X.



    Given that Apple has stuck with the Mac OS X name for nearly a decade, I think they realize there is a lot of name recognition with the "OS X" part. When it comes time for Apple to finally increment the major version number, I suspect they will just rename Mac OS to iOS.
  • Reply 42 of 52
    kolchakkolchak Posts: 1,398member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Negafox View Post


    Given that Apple has stuck with the Mac OS X name for nearly a decade, I think they realize there is a lot of name recognition with the "OS X" part. When it comes time for Apple to finally increment the major version number, I suspect they will just rename Mac OS to iOS.



    There's also a lot of confusion. Virtually everybody I know who's not a Machead calls it Oh-ess-ex. Other companies jumping on the bandwagon haphazardly had the same problem. The current version of Worderfect is X5, which is actually version 15, but I think Corel is happy to let people think it's an X. X brings some cachet to the name, some people think.
  • Reply 43 of 52
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by سیب View Post


    How can a "laptop to tablet" form factor be patentable? The idea was implemented a decade ago.



    I was thinking the same thing. Sad thing is some people will then swear Apple invented the laptop to tablet form factor.
  • Reply 44 of 52
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    <insert comment about computers, internet porn and ?seamen">



    So soli does have a sense of humor I see. Does it mean you crack yourself up?
  • Reply 45 of 52
    icyfogicyfog Posts: 338member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post


    I was thinking the same thing. Sad thing is some people will then swear Apple invented the laptop to tablet form factor.



    It's not the laptop to tablet form factor Apple won the patent for; it's the WAY it's converts from laptop to tablet.
  • Reply 46 of 52
    jasenj1jasenj1 Posts: 923member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    I do think a MagSafe + LightPeak would be pretty slick for connecting an Apple Display to a Mac notebook.



    Yes, please. I'll take one. Currently with my work laptop I connect power, audio, USB, Ethernet and DVI every day when I get to the office. A single MagSafe + LightPeak connector with all those other ports in the power brick or something else would be great!



    Docks these days = lots of pins = lots of chance to get dirty, broken, shorted, etc. LightPeak with the bandwidth of an internal bus will be wonderful.



    Stick LightPeak in the iOS devices and you have some real exciting things. What if the same MagSafe & LightPeak could be plugged into a Mac, iPad, iPod or iPhone?



    - Jasen.
  • Reply 47 of 52
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by icyfog View Post


    The power brick can't have all the connections for a laptop because I need to have connections when I'm running on battery only.

    Now, what it could be for is the next iPad. It will be a way to connect devices to the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone.



    It may not have to be powered in order to run, and if you're attaching a cable anyway, what's one more?
  • Reply 48 of 52
    haggarhaggar Posts: 1,568member
    So the solution for dockable Mac laptops and convertible Mac tablets is to create better implementations of these ideas, rather than just dismiss them like "who needs a dock", "if you don't like it then buy a PC", etc?
  • Reply 49 of 52
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by icyfog View Post


    It's not the laptop to tablet form factor Apple won the patent for; it's the WAY it's converts from laptop to tablet.



    Apple didnt patent that either. They patented some scroll/gesture thingy and listed a bunch of hardware it could work with, a laptop convertible to tablet with a slider being one of them.



    Im pretty sure i had an calculator that opened with such slider when i was a kid so that way is pretty unpatentable.



    That they only covered one with a slider most likely means they are going for that kind of conversion style if they are gonna do a convertible.





    and i REALLY hope they do ... i never have seen any apple product i really want, but im tired of waiting for that perfect netvertible, and after the uselessbattery-terriblescreen inspiron duo flop i think only apple can pull one off.



    While i prefer the inspiron duo conversion method since its more elegant and faster, that slider thingie could work too + it seems to allow for more screen real estate so yeah.



    please apple, give me the perfect netvertible
  • Reply 50 of 52
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kolchak View Post


    There are also plenty of ways around the "curved display casing" you claim is a problem. As the iPhone 4 shows, Apple may be moving away from curved surfaces. And who knows if Apple will use a sliding design? Maybe they'll just have a flat arm reaching from the back of the keyboard section to the exact center of the display. Use it like a laptop or flip the display pivot 180º before closing to lay it flat on its back, sort of like the Dell Duo but without the ugly surrounding frame.



    The flat arm on the back sounds like a good idea. If they made the hinge run all the way across, it would be stronger and just leave a horizontal line across the back and lines down the side. Not sure what they'd do with the Apple logo though - it would be split in two. the machine would also have to be cut a certain way to lie flush in both setups but it should be possible and might actually sit like a draft table. With recessed keyboards and trackpads now, there's no problem with them getting in the way and the magnet can hold it shut both ways. You wouldn't get portrait typing but that's not a huge problem.
  • Reply 51 of 52
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Haggar View Post


    So the solution for dockable Mac laptops and convertible Mac tablets is to create better implementations of these ideas, rather than just dismiss them like "who needs a dock", "if you don't like it then buy a PC", etc?



    Is this actually in response to anything in the thread or just some sort of free-floating indignation?
  • Reply 52 of 52
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mister Snitch View Post


    An Apple laptop that also acts like an iPad is inevitable.



    I thought they'd have one by 1999. I mean hasn't Dell or someone even been able to make one like 5 or 10 years ago? Well, as long as the handwriting recognition is good. I've used Tablet XP. It was actually pretty decent. Maybe 90% right. Just barely not enough to actually be useful and more of a toy. But impressive. I was tasked to see whether we should use it for fieldwork. I came down with a firm no, since while managers were thinking it would save time, but I concluded that correcting it 10% of the time, along with many many other issues, would chew up time, not save it. I hope Apple has figured out how to get 99.9% handwriting recognition!! That's be awesome!
Sign In or Register to comment.