Apple patents suggest iPad "kickstand," graphics pen

Apple's R&D is always hard at work coming up with various ideas for Apple products, and when they do, Apple usually lays down the paperwork for patents on them, whether they're destined for actual release or not. A few of these wacky ideas have popped up in the USPTO lately, and while they'll likely never see the light of day as real products, they do show just how busy they are coming up with new ideas in Cupertino.

First up, one of the patents describes a built-in stand for the iPad. We've certainly seen plenty of third-party stands for Apple's tablet, but Apple has apparently designed an official solution that bends out from the back and holds in two positions -- one for standing up straight and another for standing down lower, as you'd have it if you were typing out something on the keyboard. The stand would feature a dual hinge, and it could even be rotated around.

Elsewhere in the patent office, Apple is also working on something surprising: a stylus for use on its touchscreen surfaces. Steve Jobs famously said that "if you see a stylus, they blew it," but apparently some of Apple's engineers disagree and are working on a prototype. The stylus would provide more exact interaction with the touchscreen (Apple's patent describes how to get the smaller stylus working with a touchscreen built for fingers), and it would likely make tasks like drawing and writing easier on the iPad and iPhone. Both patents are interesting, but don't hold your breath on seeing these on stage at the next event.

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Source: http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2011/02/apple-ta…

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Apple's R&D is always hard at work coming up with various ideas for Apple products, and when they do, Apple usually lays down the...

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James

Ya know, I was thinking about this stylus a bit today. You know what I think would be really cool? If you could turn your iPad into a Cliq(?) tablet to be used with photoshop, etc. They already have apps that can use your iPad as a monitor. With this stylus and *IF* they put pressure sensitivity/accelerometer angling of the "brush" this setup would make one BA graphics setup!!

IMHO

February 03 2011 at 7:31 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Sparks

In fairness, I think Jobs' quote doesn't in any way take away from the practicality of a stylus.

Look at old touchscreens, where you *HAD* to use a stylus to do anything. Typing on the touchscreen keyboard, tapping an icon, whatever. Maybe you had to use a stylus because it was a resistive screen that didn't handle fingers well. Maybe you had to use a stylus because the hit-locations on the screen were too small to get with anything else. Maybe both were true.

Either way, you've failed to make the touchscreen truly approachable and natural. And I think that's what Jobs means.

Modern touchscreen input -- iOS, of course, but also WebOS or Android -- is designed around the concept of fingers. Touch areas are larger and more easily hit (not the tiny little squares suitable for a stylus that you'd get under older Windows Mobile or PalmOS variants). You're meant to scroll with gestures, flicking content rather than tapping on a scrollbar or button with a stylus. All of them are usable without a stylus, thus succeed at making the touchscreen approachable.

That doesn't mean that a stylus isn't useful for art or handwriting purposes. A pressure-sensitive stylus that could work like Wacom tablet pen would be particularly awesome, where pressing could determine the opacity or width of brush-strokes. I'd love something like that for retouching photos on the iPad, for instance.

But a stylus isn't required to use the /system/ itself, which I think was the point of Jobs' quote.

February 03 2011 at 6:26 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Edward

Actually, I would love to see an official stylus. Digitizing paper will never take off unless we can use digital tablets like we use paper.

February 03 2011 at 5:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Steve

What's there not to get? Artists need a stylus for more accurate control.

February 03 2011 at 5:29 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply