Apple Patent Points To Possible Crossover iMac-iPad Technology
Patently Apple, a Website specializing in finding and analyzing Apple patents on Monday said that Apple applied for a patent that would allow the iMac to switch between a hi-resolution mouse input mode and a low-resolution touch-screen mode.
The result, according to Patently Apple, could be the ability to move between Apple's OS X operating system, used in its iMac desktop computers, and the iOS operating systems used in its iPad mobile devices.
In the patent, filed internationally on July 9, 2009, Apple said it invented the ability to transition between touch-based input and mouse/keyboard-based input by using an accelerometer in a touch screen display to sense a change in its orientation.
As the user switches between a horizontal or vertical display position, items outside the display are of the screen can slide or be pushed off the screen and be retrieved when the original orientation is restored.
For instance, apple wrote in the application, for mouse and keypad work, the user may want the display to be relatively far away and in an upright position. However, for touch-screen use, the user may want the screen to be closer and lay flat.
"For example, to enter touch input the user might want to pull the screen closer and push the display screen down flat, as if the screen is a book the user is reading," Apple wrote in the patent application.
A host computer connected to such a display could also sense the change and perform any number of actions as a result, Apple wrote.
Such actions include "logging onto a computer or a computer network, permitting authorized individuals access to restricted areas of the computer or computer network, loading a user profile associated with a user's preferred arrangement of the computer desktop, (or) launching a particular program," Apple wrote.
Patently Apple said the result of such technology would be the ability to transition from OS X to iOS.
"Imagine having an iMac on your desktop one minute and a gigantic iPad the next. Imagine playing iGames on this dream machine - Wow! Imagine reading a double-page book on this - Unbelievable!" Patently Apple wrote.