Neowin.net - Apple applies to light up laptop touchpads, iPod clickwheels

Apple applies to light up laptop touchpads, iPod clickwheels

Posted by Daniel Fleshbourne on 25 January 2008 - 13:55 · 15 comments & 8112 views

Apple has touched on a new way to help you find your way around its products. The company has registered technology in the US that could see the iPod’s clickwheel or your MacBook Air’s touchpad light-up when you finger it.

The patent application, which was filed recently with the US Patent and Trademark Office, shows in block diagram form how the inclusion of a lighting mechanism would help guide users around a device by relating menu options to lighting changes. It's little like someone switching the hallway light on and off for every step you take up the stairs.

View: The full story @ The Reg

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(2 replies) #1 Posted by netbiased on 25 Jan 2008 - 14:08: "light-up when you finger it." LOL

(1 reply) #2 Posted by OceanMotion on 25 Jan 2008 - 14:57: Lame but also genius. They don't have to do anything big with the next iPod just this, and the masses will all suck it up. Sad.

(2 replies) #3 Posted by Sekhmet on 25 Jan 2008 - 14:59: This 'technology' has been available to anyone for some time, and strangely enough, it's from the same company that makes touchpads and clickwheels for Apple: http://www.synaptics.com/products/lux.cfm

Quote:

The LuxPad solution offers an array of colors to choose from, and designers can also opt to illuminate just a logo or design on the LuxPad. In addition, the LuxPad solution includes Synaptics' customizable device driver, which allows users to adjust their LuxPad settings. The result is a user-friendly interface solution that creates pride of ownership, appeals to the individuality of today's consumers, and is a unique differentiator for OEMs targeting the growing consumer notebook market.

So yeah, it's basically useless eyecandy.

#4 Posted by bl4ck5un on 25 Jan 2008 - 15:55: your vein attempt at a sexual innuendo fails miserably.

#5 Posted by GEIST on 25 Jan 2008 - 17:29: Awesome! We'll finally be able to use laptop trackpads and iPods in absolute darkness, since the displays of these devices don't emit any light and our fingers' touch senses can impossibly let us make out their location on trackspads and clickwheels and perform gestures thereon. Another nifty but useless battery drainer.

#6 Posted by hotdog963al on 25 Jan 2008 - 18:33: [Neowin] ZUNE FTW L!O!L!L!O!L! iPODZ ARR CRAP!! LO!L!!L APPLE SUCK [/Neowin]
I think Apple will make this look REALLY nice.

#7 Posted by LTD on 25 Jan 2008 - 23:32: Enhancing the already great design never hurts.

Others could learn a thing or two.

#8 Posted by QuarterSwede on 26 Jan 2008 - 18:44: I believe the real reason for this would be to actually show the user exactly how to do certain gestures on the trackpad.

#9 Posted by metaone on 27 Jan 2008 - 19:31

EXACTLY!

The touchwheel implementation is pretty simplistic.

However, the touchpad implementation can prove quite significant. It could be used to not only give instruction but for anyof the following in a CRUDE, low-resolution way:

RGB color manipulation either by sliders or an imaginary (crude) color-wheel.
Volume, bass, treble, pan control
Surround control

I could see it being used to have access to many more specialized functions for which finger gestures would become confusing or impossible to learn or for which you currently have to open a mini app to access them.

One way to do this would be to have one specific 'select function' gesture which would cause the pad to display either a 3x3 or 4x4 grid. Tapping one would shift the display to presenting the crude "finger" panel for the function selected. (More functions could be accessed via multi-tap or a hierarchical arrangement, but done in a way to avoid complexity.) A specific "close function" gesture or tap at a specific and consistent place (extreme lower-right) would close the selected function and return the pad to normal use.

Think of how gaming, art, music manipulation (drum pad anyone?) would be enhanced with gestures that have positional significance.

This will prove to be very innovative and well beyond the imaginations of may posters.

#10 Posted by metaone on 27 Jan 2008 - 19:44: This causes me to think that the rumored iTablet is close as the benefits of touch-with-on-device-visual-feedback during its development were imagined to be something good to have as a staple of all computing platforms; notebooks and workstation keyboards.

Look for this to evolve into a full-color hi-res small-factor touch-screen within the next two years and become a much desired feature.

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