http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/d...829-24zyw.html
Quote:
If the swipe is the essential gesture of the smartphone revolution, the pinch is a close second. Many of the coolest things that can be done on today's mobile devices — from finding an out-of-the-way bar to determining whether a thunderstorm is going to ruin your party — are made easier by placing fingers on the screen and sliding them.
The $1 billion court ruling for Apple, which upheld patents for what manufacturers call "pinch to zoom", among other popular features, has clouded the future of the gesture for anyone inclined to buy mobile devices from other companies. Apple made clear its determination to press its advantage this week, announcing plans to seek preliminary injunctions on eight phones made by Samsung, the loser in the case.
The ruling has sparked searches for possible alternatives to the pinch — some have suggested finger taps, circles, wiggles — while also highlighting questions about whether a company should be able to patent how humans interact with their machines once those interactions become standardised.
"I don't know what you do about 'pinch and zoom'," said Tim Wu, a Columbia University law professor critical of the ruling. "That's the cost of this decision. All the phones have to use less-efficient tools."
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Will these alternatives to the pinch (finger taps, circles, wiggles) be good enough?
And who hold the patent on "circle to zoom", "tap to zoom" etc...
Maybe somebody should patent "blow to zoom." You blow air toward the screen and it zooms. I just came up with this innovation.
Or how about "tilt the head to the right to zoom." Here's how it would work. The screen has sensors that could tell when a person head tilt to the right. This is the signal for it too zoom.
"Voice command to zoom" is another innovation that I'm sure has been patented. You say "zoom in" and the screen would zoom in. Pretty neat!
Quote:
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If Apple had lost last week, there may never have been an incentive for manufacturers to consider alternatives to the pinch. The same goes for other popular innovations for which Apple claimed valid patents, including the way a screen bounces back when it scrolls too far, or the rounded rectangle shape of the iPhone.
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is the writer being sarcastic? the rounded rectangle shape is a popular "innovation?" really?