Imitation is sincerest form of flattery, or so the old saying goes. If it’s true, then Apple flatters lots of companies. After all, it didn’t make the first MP3 player, tablet or smartphone. However, credit where it’s due, the company did innovate all of those products and popularized them for the masses. Now it seems the Cupertino-based business is setting its sights on another “innovation”.
A new report reveals that Apple has filed for a patent for a new iPad smart cover that comes with a very Surface-like touch keyboard. Patently Apple, which studied the filing that was released by the US Patent and Trademark Office, notes, “the keyboard may be configured to acquire capacitive, resistive, optical, acoustic, inductive, mechanical, chemical, or electromagnetic measurements that indicate the location of touch or near touch on the keyboard surface. Software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof may be used to process the measurements of the detected touches to identify and track one or more gestures.”
Illustrations of the Smart Cover were released along with the filing. You can take a look at the design below and head over to the VIA link to check out the patent filing with more illustrations.
While it sounds more advanced than Microsoft’s Surface Touch Cover, there are two things to remember — one is that many customers prefer a type cover, as the touch keyboard takes a lot of getting used to, and many just do not like them. The second thing is that patent filings do not always lead to actual products, and when they do, it can sometimes take a while.
We’ll see where this goes, and what reaction other companies, like Microsoft, may have to it. For now it is just an interesting story of something that could be.
Thanks to Anon for sending this in!
