Who Wants a Stylus? Apple Is Thinking About It
Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, Apple, patents, R&D and Inventions, tablets, Today's Chili
A recently published patent from Apple depicts pen-based handwriting recognition software that would work with tablet-like devices.
The described invention (screenshot at right) demonstrates a method to make digital handwriting recognition better than technologies used in the past. An “ink manager” would attempt to recognize full phrases before sending them to the handwriting recognition engine, as opposed to sending separate strokes.
“The present invention, in large part, relates to the observation that client applications and handwriting recognition software in pen-based computer systems can make far more accurate ink-related decisions based on entire ink phrases, rather than individual ink strokes,” the patent states.
Though the patent relates the technology to traditional tablet devices, we doubt we would see it applied to Apple’s touchscreen tablet, which is rumored for an early 2010 release. Tipsters in several reports have described the rumored tablet as a 10.7-inch iPhone.
Assuming Apple’s tablet is indeed a larger iPhone, it’s unlikely it will feature a stylus-based interface since the iPhone was designed for finger interaction. It’s odd, actually, for Apple to be thinking about pen-based computing. Steve Jobs in January 2007 denounced the stylus when introducing the iPhone at Macworld Expo:
Oh, a stylus, right? We’re going to use a stylus. No. Who wants a stylus? You have to get ‘em and put ‘em away, and you lose ‘em. Yuck. Nobody wants a stylus. So let’s not use a stylus. We’re going to use the best pointing device in the world. We’re going to use a pointing device that we’re all born with — born with ten of them. We’re going to use our fingers. We’re going to touch this with our fingers.
A stylus-controlled Apple product, tablet or not, would severely undercut Jobs’ statement now, wouldn’t it?
Via UnwiredView
See Also:
- Apple Patents Clamshell Design — A Sign of iPhone Nanos to Come …
- Leaked: Apple Filing Illustrates Multitouch Tablet Technology …
- Apple Patent Details GPS-equipped Nike+ Shoes
Photo of an R2H stylus (not an Apple stylus): joshb/Flickr
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