It was a huge day for Apple patents, the company being granted 37 of them on Tuesday from devices with a feature that could make the “scroll speed proportionate to tilt angle” to others relating to a “multi-device charging” and “smart fabric”/
Which, by anyone’s estimate, is a whole lot of patents.
The main takeaway from this is that Apple seems to be working on a smartphone with a wraparound display. The touch input from the rear of the device would be able to control actions on the main display.
Per the patent:
The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising a touch sensor, wherein the electronic device has a front face and a rear face and wherein the flexible display layer is configured to display content on the front face based on touch input gathered using the touch sensor on the rear face.
The same patent referred to the scroll speed being affected by the angle the device is being tilted at.
That patent is quoted as stating:
The electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein the control circuitry changes the content by flipping pages of text displayed on the flexible display layer based on the tilt angle.
This patent also references users being able to tilt the device to turn the page, which brings about speculation that Apple could be developing a device for the gaming community. Apple originally filed a patent for wraparound display technology 5 years ago
Apple was also rewarded patents relating to smart fabric integration with remote controls.
This patent offered the following description:
The fabric-based item may include control circuitry that gathers user input from the input circuitry and wireless communications circuitry that the control circuitry uses to transmit remote control commands and other wireless signals in response information from the input circuitry.
Finally, the reference to Apple’s “multi-device” charging product is thought to be refer to the AirPower charging station, which has yet to hit the market.
This is all speculation at this point, but it could highlight some interesting things down the road.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via The Mac Observer and Patently Apple