retroremakes
February 17th, 2010, 17:40
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_02-17-10apmtpatent.jpg (http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/02-17-10apmtpatent.jpg)This can't be good for anyone but Apple—a patent app filed in 2004 has been granted for their capacitive multitouch display.
The patent is not necessarily all-encompassing, but it's certainly quite encompassing, as the abstract explains the patent is for:
"A touch panel having a transparent capacitive sensing medium configured to detect multiple touches or near touches that occur at the same time..."
Apple's touchscreen is still the best in the entire smartphone market (http://gizmodo.com/5444514/smartphone-touch-screen-analysis-tests-finger-fidelity), and while the implications of this patent are still unclear, it's certainly hard to imagine it helping any other companies close that gap. [freepatentsonline (http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7663607.html) via Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/17/apple-granted-patent-on-capacitive-multitouch-displays/)]
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1) http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2226 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=m6c0CfKmufs:_OMaoTzL4ek:H0mrP-F8Qgo) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=m6c0CfKmufs:_OMaoTzL4ek:yIl2AUoC8zA) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=m6c0CfKmufs:_OMaoTzL4ek:D7DqB2pKExk</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=m6c0CfKmufs:_OMaoTzL4ek:D7DqB2pKExk) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=m6c0CfKmufs:_OMaoTzL4ek:V_sGLiPBpWU</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=m6c0CfKmufs:_OMaoTzL4ek:V_sGLiPBpWU)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~4/m6c0CfKmufs
More... (http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/m6c0CfKmufs/apple-now-has-a-patent-on-their-capacitive-multitouch-displays)
The patent is not necessarily all-encompassing, but it's certainly quite encompassing, as the abstract explains the patent is for:
"A touch panel having a transparent capacitive sensing medium configured to detect multiple touches or near touches that occur at the same time..."
Apple's touchscreen is still the best in the entire smartphone market (http://gizmodo.com/5444514/smartphone-touch-screen-analysis-tests-finger-fidelity), and while the implications of this patent are still unclear, it's certainly hard to imagine it helping any other companies close that gap. [freepatentsonline (http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7663607.html) via Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/17/apple-granted-patent-on-capacitive-multitouch-displays/)]
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1) http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2226 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=m6c0CfKmufs:_OMaoTzL4ek:H0mrP-F8Qgo) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=m6c0CfKmufs:_OMaoTzL4ek:yIl2AUoC8zA) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=m6c0CfKmufs:_OMaoTzL4ek:D7DqB2pKExk</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=m6c0CfKmufs:_OMaoTzL4ek:D7DqB2pKExk) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=m6c0CfKmufs:_OMaoTzL4ek:V_sGLiPBpWU</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=m6c0CfKmufs:_OMaoTzL4ek:V_sGLiPBpWU)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~4/m6c0CfKmufs
More... (http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/m6c0CfKmufs/apple-now-has-a-patent-on-their-capacitive-multitouch-displays)