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Patently Apple reports that Apple filed for the ‘magic trackpad’ trademark. US Patent & Trademark Office published application on February 26, 2010. ‘Magic Trackpad’ likely refers to an external peripheral device for desktop computers or laptops plugged into external displays. There has been speculation about some sort of multi-touch “trackpad gadget” from Apple. Maybe Apple will provide desktop users a way to take advantage of some external multi-touch system.

The application requests registration in International Class 009 under a number of categories relating to computer hardware and software, as well as several types of peripheral devices:

International Class 009: Computers; computer software; computer operating system software; computer utility software; computer hardware; computer peripherals; scanners; touchscreens; keyboards; computer mice; trackballs; trackpads; touchpads; light pens; joysticks; game controllers; graphics tablets; digitizers; cables and connectors; flash memory drives; USB drives; solid state storage devices; barcode readers.

Antonio De Rosa is creating something new every day. Today he shows us a new image and a 3D video which shows both the iPhone 4G and a new docking station called AluStand. There is also a new Remote Control with multi-touch surface.

Here’s the video:
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In this last post we’ll tell you about new Drivesavers instructive app, virtual iPhone planetarium, papershow tool for making presentations, Inklet software to turn Mac multi-touch trackpad into a drawing tablet and a tool for creating your own iPhone apps.

Free DriveSavers Hard Drive Disk-aster Simulator app for the iPod Touch and iPhone is a new way to study how a hard disk works. It teaches in interactive fashion about all the things that may crash a drive, what happens during a seized motor, clicker failure, SSD failures, contamination and head crashes. Also you’ll learn how the data recovery gets done and see the inside of a hard disk. That looks pretty instructive.

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From now on sausages are not the only substitutes for human fingers; Electrorack presented an interesting rack enclosure for Xserves; Shake allows you to listen music without earphones; U-Socket solves a problem of USB-rechargable devices.

As you remember few days ago we wrote about sausages as the best substitutes of human fingers for iPhones. Well now it is not. Two companies at once presented their capacitive capable gloves that allow you to use iPhone even when it’s cold. iTouch Gloves offered high end leather gloves (start with  $99.95, on the left side) and Telefingers offered thinner, less stylish and cheaper solution (for only $15, on the right side).

That really looks like oversized Mac Pro, but indeed this is a rack enclosure for Xserves and RAID configuration presented by Electrorack. The latter also offers a variety of other server racking solutions.
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US patent organization just granted Apple a patent filed back in 2004 on capacitive multitouch displays. Patent #7,663,607 describes a “transparent capacitive sensing medium configured to detect multiple touches or near touches that occur at the same time” by way of two sandwiched layers of conductive lines hooked up to an appropriate circuit, and also covers a specific type of multitouch display with a similar two-layer capacitive sensor made of glass.

There are other types of capacitive sensors on the market, but Apple’s touchscreen is still the best. While the implications of this patent are still unclear, it’s certainly gives hard times for many Apple’s competitors.

[via]

Google released a software update for Android-based Nexus One smartphones. The update offers a number of enhancements, but the most interesting one is a support of the multi-touch technology in phone’s Browser, Gallery and Maps applications. The new functionality is called “pinch-to-zoom”.

Google previously had an agreement with Apple, that Android OS would not support multi-touch in the U.S. Now it looks like all the agreements are gone.

Engadget posted a video of the Nexus One’s pinch-to-zoom functionality:

Another rumors about Apple tablets started with TechCrunch article. Refering to them, Apple works on another larger tablet, that seems to be more like Mac than iPhone. It may be have a screen up to 15,4’’ size like one in MacBook Pro versions and run Mac OS X.

It seems strange, as previous ideas of Desktop-OS-on-Tablet weren’t so successful and didn’t gain any traction. TechCrunch claims this tablet can be launched in the next year. So now we can expect Apple to introduce some more multi-touch friendly changes to Mac OS X soon.

MarketWatch reports that Apple will begin mass production of its much-rumored iTablet in February ahead of a launch in late March or April.

The report claims that the device will include a 10.1″ multi-touch LCD screen. There were rumors that iTablet will have OLED screen and therefore delayed till the second half of 2010.

Current rumors also say that Apple has begun contacting book publishers about distributing their books through Apple for consumption on the new device. Apple is reportedly proposing a similar business model to its App Store, where Apple would retain 30% of each download’s sale price with 70% going to the publishers. Amazon, for example, uses 50/50 model.

The estimated cost of the future device is $1000. Apple may sell 1-1.5 million tablets per quarter. The name of the future device is still unknown. Rumors say different vartiants: iTablet, TabletMac, MacTablet or just Apple Tablet.

iPhone developer Illusion Labs released a video today showing off what their current iPhone games would look like on a large multi-touch table. The technology behind this table is from TouchTech in cooperation with Crowd.

via macrumors

Since the iPhone’s launch, the lack of video capabilities on the handset has been a major complaint among customers.The patent, that Apple was given several days ago, shows company’s plans to introduce video conferencing to future generations of the popular handset. Apple devotes a paragraph to explaining how video conferencing would work. Lens that can be rotated backward or forward, coupled with the touchscreen as a viewfinder.

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U.S. Patent Office has awarded Apple the patent on their application titled Touch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics.

358 page patent application incorporates patent applications filed as far back as September 2006. The application details the implementation of Multi-Touch on the iPhone alongside numerous diagrams of the device itself. Steve Jobs is prominently listed amongst the inventors along with other notable individuals such as Scott Forstall and Wayne Westerman.

via macrumors

Control your computer wirelessly with the multi-touch features of the new MacBook line!

For both Mac and Windows:

• Wireless touchpad
• PowerPoint clicker
• Control your media
• Multi-touch access to Task Switcher
• Automated discovery

Specially for Mac:

• Zoom your Mac screen
• Multi-touch access to Expose

No install required on Mac, although free modified Vine Server will give you access to media keys (Play/Pause, etc.). For Windows, free modified TightVNC server will also give you access to media keys.

The price is dropped for a limited time from $4.99 to $0. AppStore link.

This is a very nice and powerfull 2D graphic calculator. User can draw multiple functions in different colors.  There are function value inspection, function intersection, solve for root, min/max points.

The multi-touch interface makes it easy to move and zoom. Both portrait and landscape modes are supported.

$1.99

iTunes Link

Pictures look very nice. Indeed a Mac tablet PC, combining notebook and IPhone, multi-touch and other technologies. Too good to be truth.  But.. There are many rumors, that it will be released by the end of this year.