Appletell

It looks like Apple could be tossing it’s current touch panels for the iPhone in favor of some Haptic technology from the ever popular Immersion (you know, the maker of those touch panels in Nokia products). Anyhow, reports say that Apple has been having many meetings with the guys over at Immersion regarding licensing of the technology and product. If all goes well, of course, we should be seeing some new and improved touch panels in the iPhone, possibly with vibration feedback. What’s even more interesting is that President and CEO of Immersion, Clent Richardson, worked at Apple for five years, so the chances of this rumor being true are even greater now.

Via [Engadget]

I’ve had my iCurve for years and love it, though I’ve always wanted a second display. When, and if I ever get that second display, the Ergotron Neo-Flex Combo Lift Stand is definitely an item I would consider purchasing. The difference between the Neo-Flex and other stands is that the Neo-Flex has a stand for your laptop, and a VESA mount for a display, giving a sleek and aligned setup. This places your laptop’s in a nearly direct alignment with your mounted external LCD display, allowing seamless use of dual monitors. Desk space is also cleared up with the display’s stand no longer in place. As with many VESA mounts, the Ergotron Neo-Flex is a bit pricy, selling at a whopping $179. Of course, if you’re desperate for desk space and have been craving a laptop stand/mount combo, then it may just be worth your money. Otherwise, an Elevator should do just fine.

[Ergotron] via [TUAW]

The presence of a LED lit display in Apple’s relatively new MacBook Air has apparently brought the technology to the forefront of new machines.  However, it is not just computers as you would expect, LCD televisions are also jumping on the bandwagon.  There is expected to be a large 16.7 million devices using this technology by the end of this year compared to a measly 4 million in 2007.  One reason the technology is so appealing is because of its even lighting and low energy consumption.  On the other end, one reason it has been adopted so slowly is due to its high cost.

I don’t know about you, but I’m all for longer battery life in laptops.  Not only that, but LED lit displays take up about only half the space of a traditional CCFL backlight which allows for thinner machines.  Once the price falls a little lower due to higher production, we could be seeing LED displays a lot more in the future.

Via [MacNN]

Apple has applied for a patent for a new type of head mounted display that would use lasers and lenses to allow for more lightweight and comfortable goggles than are currently available.  This design would separate the laser engine from the image generator via a fiber optic cable so the laser engine could be away from the actual goggles themselves.  By making the goggles like that, Apple can reduce the weight of the goggles as well as the heat they create while making longer battery life possible.  Furthermore, this “Head Mounted Display System” would plug into your Apple iPod and play your movies and pictures.

Another benefit from this apparatus would be a possible wider field of view for the user.  Based on the patent application and the drawings provided, this device sounds like it could be a pretty nice addition to the iPod.  Not only that, but the use of lenses could allow these to possibly double as actual glasses.  However, in my opinion, the design would have to be pretty spot on for anyone to go around wearing something like this.  Would you buy it?

Mac Rumors picked up on the fact that Apple has patented a Docking Device that looks strikingly similar to an iMac. As seen in the picture above, you would take your notebook, slide it into your iDock, and have a desktop computer. It is unclear whether the Dock has a display built in, or if this is designed for a tablet-like device so that the tablet’s screen would face out through the display area of the iDock.

I actually really like this product on a few conditions: First, the chin must go. It has no practicality here. The chin going will take care of this mostly, but it needs to ditch the iMac resemblance. It needs to be made unique. And lastly, it could be really completely awesome if this thing came with the rumored ultra-portable at MacWorld. And even cooler if this was bundled with the Mac Tablet, so that it becomes a multi-touch desktop in essence.

Read [Mac Rumors] Via [Infinite Loop]

Apple today closed a thread on it’s own discussion forums regarding problems with it’s aluminum iMac’s display.

The thread [link], titled “Bought new iMac Faded Display,” talked about the seemingly common problem with 20” displays: an uneven gradient so that one side of the screen has a noticeably different tint from the other. Apple locked the thread with no explanation. Many other posts regarding iMac problems are disappearing as well, case in point this one talking about the screen gradient, are simply being deleted, and trying to access them results in an error message.

The thread does look like it took a turn towards some personal attacky stuff at the bottom, but to completely lock this thread and delete most others that talk about problems with the products is not good practice. What are the forums for, rave reviews? The Hot News section is for self-promotion, Apple.

This is definietely not the first time Apple has closed threads regarding product issues. There were many closings around Leopard’s release, though fairly useless posts exclaiming how great Leopard was were left alone.

Via [MacNN]

Rumors of where Apple is going to implement MultiTouch Technology have been going from the iPod all the way up to the iMac. An Apple patent (filed by Fingerworks [a company Apple bought] back in January) published today shows that MultiTouch is definitely a technology they want to implement in their product line other than the iPhone.

Many attempts have been made over the years to improve the way users interact with computers. In the beginning, cards or tapes with punched holes were used for user input. Punch cards gave way to terminals with alphanumeric keyboards and text displays, which evolved into the modern keyboard, mouse and graphical-display based graphical user interfaces. Many expect that the use of multi-finger, touch-sensitive user interfaces (“multi-touch interfaces“), such as those described in the references incorporated above, will become widely adopted for interacting with computers and other electronic devices, allowing computer input to become even more straightforward and intuitive.

The patent talks about MultiTouch gestures which could be used to invoke a number of different actions. If Apple creates a Tablet Mac, or implements MultiTouch in it’s displays or iPods, these different gestures will most likely make an appearance. The patent states there are approx. 300 different combinations per hand, so the possibilities for what Apple could do with this technology is almost endless.

Via [MacRumors]