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Patent illustrations hint at double-dock iPad, touch-based corner button

by Mike Schramm Sep 27th 2010 at 6:00PM

Patently Apple has a few new patent illustrations from China that may hint at future iPad hardware features. The first is a second dock on the side of the tablet. As you can see above, the connector would come in handy if you wanted to view the iPad in landscape form, but didn't want to have a cable sticking out of the side. Personally, I can't really see Apple duplicating functionality in this way, though -- while a second port would be handy, it seems a waste to have a completely separate port used only half the time. Like most patents, this is only an idea at this point -- Apple isn't required to actually use it in a future release.

The second idea is more interesting, in my mind: the images show what seems to be a touch-sensitive area on the corner of the front of the iPad. PA presumes that this would be a button-less button, an area you could tap or press to do things like return to the iPad's homepage or flip pages in iBooks. Now that's a really interesting idea -- the front glass section of the iPhone and iPad is pretty much unused at this point, and if Apple could work it out so that even part of it could become functional (even in a limited way), that would be exciting.

And finally, it's worth noting that quite a few of these pictures have what's presumably a small camera sitting at the top of the iPad's screen. Yes, by now it's pretty much a given that the iPad will come with a camera in the next iteration, but there's another slice of evidence to stick in the growing proof sandwich.

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Patently Apple has a few new patent illustrations from China that may hint at future iPad hardware features. The first is a second dock on...
 

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18 Comments

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Greg Roberts

From the top it kind of looks like an iPhone 4, which would be cool. But the other photos that show it from the side and back, not so much. At any rate I'm sure the iPad 2 will get an upgrade in the looks department. Not that the original looked bad, Apple just has a thing for changing up the looks.

September 28 2010 at 3:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Paddy

Super. I just have to take the case off every time I want to use the corner feature.

September 28 2010 at 1:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buzz

Isn't the corner detail the speaker?

September 28 2010 at 1:36 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Gabriel Garcia

ummm I used a lot the side area to grab the ipad. If this is touch-enable it will be more difficult to read in other positions beside be seated.

September 27 2010 at 11:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Henry Lowengard

I seem to recall a patent a while ago about an iMac-like frame that "something" could slide into. As soon as I saw the iPad, I figured out what that something probably was.

September 27 2010 at 11:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
D

Wow, are people really thinking that this is a second dock? It's clearly a SIM tray. C'mon people.

September 27 2010 at 8:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to D's comment
Tony

I can't believe it took this many comments for someone to make this point. Have you looked at an iPad? That's exactly where the SIM tray is...

September 28 2010 at 11:47 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jay Riether

Of course the corner detail could be something as innocuous as texturing of the case in a corner to help users identify the orientation of the device. If you're vision impaired, it could be helpful to "feel" for the lower-left corner to find the Home button more easily.

September 27 2010 at 8:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

A FULL ON DOUBLE DOCK ALL THE WAY!!!

September 27 2010 at 7:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
pureadrenalin2005

Quote "The second idea is more interesting, in my mind: the images show what seems to be a touch-sensitive area on the corner of the front of the iPad."

Simply put that would be incorrect. The lines you see are pretty standard to show a glass surface in a drawing.

September 27 2010 at 7:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to pureadrenalin2005's comment
Pete

Apple needs to add a HDMI and USB port, 3mp and 5mp cameras to the iPad in the next 3 to 4 months. RIM and HP are coming with features that people want NOW and NOT two years from now. C'mon Apple, get with it!

September 27 2010 at 7:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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