Apple’s touch keyboard makes a new appearance on a generous, two-million pixel slab.

 

There are secrets. Secrets you are not supposed to know about. Suppressed 200mpg automobile engines. Faster-than-light-speed travel technology we scavenged at Roswell. The location of Walt Disney’s cryogenically frozen body. The truth about the Masons. But none of these inspires as much discussion and theorizing as the one to which we turn our attention here: Apple’s next big product.

 

Apple develops products in an armored sanctuary from which not a word escapes, lest those responsible for the leak face the wrath of Steve Jobs. Call Apple for a comment on an upcoming release and you’ll be lucky to escape with your life.

 

But even Apple is bound by certain rules, thanks to Uncle Sam: If it wants to prevent competitors from knocking off its hardware, it has to file paperwork to legally protect the design of those gadgets. That means patent forms, full of pictures and descriptions, must be filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, often years before that hardware hits the market.

 

We unlocked the vault and scoured the USPTO’s database for a hint at what Steve’s next “one more thing” keynote reveal might be. Overall, we sifted through nearly 2,000 Apple patents, spanning 30 years of innovation. The paper cuts and bloodshot eyes paid off through a collection of the coolest, wildest, and weirdest inventions that Apple has ever come up with. Join us as we reveal the most tantalizing and, frankly, mind-boggling patents from the inner sanctum of Apple’s R&D lab, three of which we’ve taken from crude line drawing into the world of 3D mock-up, with our own photo-realistic designs.

 

Just this once, you’re free to tell everyone what you’ve seen.

 

Mac Tablet

 

Several patents granted from 2004 to 2008. ETA: 2010

 

Part MacBook, part iPhone. Could be on your desk in 2010.

 

Meet the flagship of Apple’s recent flurry of patent activity, a product some have been predicting Apple would release for years: the Mac tablet. This slate-format tablet is as portable as a MacBook Air, but with a twist: It also docks into an iMac for regular desktop work. This is no stuffy PC tablet; expect a fully thought-out interface and a specialized Mac OS update—as well as a treasure trove of innovations that could take this tablet from cool to downright phenomenal.

 

Based on existing technology, the tablet would feature iPhone-like multitouch, spanning the entire screen. Flitting through images and albums will be as easy as it is on the iPhone and the latest MacBook touchpads. And new gesturing patents granted this year will continue to add capabilities, assigning new functions to more multifinger gestures, full-palm gestures, and stylus data-entry.

 

When you’re not mobile, the Mac tablet docks into an iMac-like chassis. This may seem mundane at first, but don’t count on Apple leaving this as a simple, dumb display, with a relatively underfeatured tablet shouldering all of workload. Tucked inside this custom iMac you’ll find a larger, secondary hard drive (for extra storage or automatic backups), a beefed-up graphics chip, or even an extra processor, giving the tablet a power boost befitting a workstation.

 

Wait, it gets wilder…we dug up a patent from 2006 that describes a touch-sensitive bezel on the side of the case. It was probably originally designed for the iPod, but it fits much better with a tablet, as frequently used features (like volume control or even the Mac OS Dock) can be conveniently and unobtrusively housed without cluttering the screen, all accessible by sliding a finger down the side of the device.

 

This next idea actually leaves Earth’s orbit, but we didn’t come up with it, Apple did: A patent from June 2004 describes microcameras distributed across an LCD screen, situated between the pixels. With this technology inside a panel, you could hold a video chat and look your caller right in the eye, rather than downwardly gazing as today’s top-mounted webcams have you do. Instead, the whole screen would become a camera, letting you use it not just for chitchat but also as an impromptu, giant photographic camera or even a quickie fax machine.

 

Of course, we can’t expect these innovations to appear all at once, and some may not make it into the tablet at all. But of this we are sure: The tablet is coming, and it’s going to be a hot one.

 

Back to The Drawing Board

 

Join us on a trip down memory lane into Apple’s patent archives as we explore six coulda-been products that never went anywhere (and probably never will).

 

The Proto-iMac 1995

 

 

Somewhere between the Mac Classic and the iconic Bondi Blue iMac lies this nameless invention, a prehistoric iMac that paved the way for the computer we know and love today.

 

For its time, it might have even been considered cool. Apple’s quaint patent sketch (above) shows integrated speakers for listening to AIFF files, what could be a Zip drive, and even a phone cradle and integrated modem so you could play Global Thermonuclear War with renegade government servers at NORAD. But mostly we love the idea of picking up that always-at-the-ready handset to order a pizza without
having to reach farther than our computer display

 

 

 

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iPhone Mini

 

Patent granted 2008. ETA: 2010

 

How to keep the iPhone’s spacious screen, but shrink its overall size? Add a flip panel.

 

In a patent so new its ink is barely dry, we found an idea that made us flip our wigs: a flip-phone version of the iPhone, offering all the features of the original, but about an inch shorter. Think of it as an iPhone mini. In true-to-Apple form, it doesn’t stop there—the device will also include a dual-sided, transparent touchpad that you can use while the unit is open or closed.

 

While few would dare to call the iPhone bulky—it’s slim and flat, after all—you’d have to be a fool to pooh-pooh a smaller version. Tiny is big, and something combining the cachet of an iPhone with the ability to fit in a pair of skinny jeans would attract the throngs of fans already in love with their Airs, minis, nanos, and shuffles.

 

But how would a flip-down cover help the device? For starters, a touchpad can be made of tougher stuff than an LCD, so it could act as a protective cover for the more delicate screen when closed. But because it’s transparent, you could still see and use the screen without opening it up. Flip it open, and the outer surface would switch off, letting you use the other side of the cover for the old swipe-and-pinch, as with the current iPhone. This offers two benefits: Your fingers wouldn’t obstruct your view of the LCD, and because you keep your mitts off the screen, its glass would stay smudge-free (except in the case of those afflicted with greasy-ear syndrome). And on a smaller device, the idea of doubling the working area shouldn’t be discounted.

 

You might think punching in a phone number on a transparent piece of plastic would be a pain, but Apple has it dialed in. The patent describes several different methods for making it easy to enter a phone number, including etching polarized numbers on the surface that are visible from an angle, software that lets you draw numbers with your finger, and even embedding tiny LEDs throughout the surface to illuminate the numbers. This last idea is the hands-down coolest—and the one we hope to see.

 

It doesn’t stop with the iPhone. Just as the idea of old-school touchpads has jumped from device to device, so could this invention. Images included with the patent show a notebook with a transparent pane totally replacing a traditional keyboard.
The resulting chimera is part iMac, with all of its components behind the screen,
and part tablet, letting you use it with a stylus or finger when the protective cover is shut. And let’s not forget the iPod: The whole line could benefit from the screen-protection and enhanced navigation of this patent.

 

Back to The Drawing Board

 

Join us on a trip down memory lane into Apple’s patent archives as we explore six coulda-been products that never went anywhere (and probably never will).

 

The O.G. iPhone, 1994

 

 

Had this invention gone to market, you could’ve had an iPhone some 13 years before the Joneses.

 

As sleek as a walrus and weighing at least half a pound, this is not the svelte wireless handset you’re familiar with today. Features would have included a monochrome, text-only screen, a flip-down mouthpiece, and an extendable antenna for better reception on the AMPS network. It also offers a removable radio card, suggesting an early mobile modem that could have been socketed into your PowerBook.

 

Don’t be too hard on it, however. Cells were all pretty portly back then. Small phones didn’t arrive until the Motorola StarTAC “wearable cell phone” hit U.S. shores in 1996, so this was probably a pretty swanky design. At the very least it could have kicked any StarTAC’s butt in a cage match

 

 

 

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Keyboard Touch

 

Patent granted March 2007. ETA: 2010

 

A multitouch panel on steroids, this souped-up keyboard could reorient itself for whatever app you’re running.

 

Art Lebedev’s Optimus Maximus keyboard has gotten a lot of play in the media (and a ton of fondling and fingerprints when it was shown off at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas). But while the innovative I/O device was being created, Apple filed a patent for a similar keyboard, and we want one.

 

The device looks like a standard keyboard with glassy keys. But behind the surface of every transparent square is a tiny OLED screen, capable of displaying any image, thereby giving the keyboard nearly infinite options for customization. Switching from a standard keyboard layout to a Dvorak or non-Western character set is a snap, so you can email your friends in Kiev or Chiang Mai in their native script without resorting to a screen-based input system.

 

When it comes to customizing for specific apps, the keyboard really takes off. Can’t remember which key opens the Dodge tool in Photoshop? Not to worry, all of the functions or their icons can be displayed right on the keys. Gamers have long been forced to play by touch, but icons across the keys will keep new gamers or the fat-fingered from accidentally whipping out a wimpy assault rifle when they meant to frag their opponent with a grenade launcher. Another possibility (as we’ve mocked up here): Using the entire surface area as a giant touchscreen that could be customized however the user desires.

 

But you don’t have to be a Photoshop pro or hardcore gamer to reap the benefits of this keyboard. Once in place, it can help out in any application, as well as regular computer use outside of apps. When you press Option, Command, or any other function keys, the rest of the keys would dynamically change to list their functions. Remembering all those annoying keyboard shortcuts would become a thing of the past.

 

So when can you get your hands on one? We don’t suggest holding your breath waiting for the release of this keyboard, but we do suggest counting your pennies. If the Optimus Maximus gives any indication, the first such keyboards will be priced in the hundreds or low thousands.

 

Back to The Drawing Board

 

Join us on a trip down memory lane into Apple’s patent archives as we explore six coulda-been products that never went anywhere (and probably never will).

 

Hot-Swappable Laptop Keyboard, 2005

 

 

Though keyboards are useful, they’re not great for every task. But what if you could swap out your notebook keyboard for any tool you desired? That’s just what we found in this design for a “mechanical overlay” that lets you sub different controls into your MacBook.

 

A large multitouch area beneath a hot-swappable keyboard acts as an input for any number of components: Want to tickle the ivories? Plop in a piano keyboard. Fancy a game? Plug in a game pad. Dig audio mixing? Jam a mixer in there and go to town. You get the idea.

 

Mechanical controls are great and all, but they could be costly. Why not just have a huge multitouch area and some programs for configuring it any way you want (à la the keyboard touch).

 

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The Superbad SuperPad, 2007

 

 

Forget puny trackpads: this design offers wall-to-wall touch sensitivity for ham-handed action. Don’t grab your folders with a finger; manhandle them with a two-fisted multigrope. True multitaskers can type with one hand while they browse the Internet or flip through photos with the other.

 

While the extended surface area takes up the space for wrist rests, the patent mentions that this pad is “smarter” than its cousins, able to distinguish purposeful touching from inadvertent brushing. But really, who needs wrist rests anyway? Our wrists will rest when they’re dead.

 

The iRemote, 1993

 

 

Back in ’93, Apple was apparently hot to get into the universal-remote game, as this patent sketch shows. Though short on description, the patent images Apple created show a decidedly fashion-forward remote, but with questionable usefulness.

 

First of all, what is that lil’ nubbin in the middle? Some kind of cross between
an Etch A Sketch and a joystick, it may have been intended as an early pointing device. Or maybe it was meant for for Skittle storage.

 

Though pretty, the thing has 10 buttons total—not great for channel surfing as the mere six numeric keys leave many channels out of reach. But an obvious power button means it would probably work just as well as Archie Bunker’s archaic clicker. Now those were the days.

 

Why is Apple So Hush-Hush?

 

We are all pawns in an elaborate game of big buzz and bigger sales.

 

It was—unequivocally—the most talked-about tech product of the year.

 

When Apple announced the iPhone in January of 2007, months ahead of its commercial release, it broke with years of tradition in which Apple never talked about its upcoming products ahead of their availability, period. While iPhone was a special case (FCC filings had to be made well in adpvance of the product’s release), it’s long been customary that, when Steve Jobs takes to the stage to talk about
new products, the Apple online store is closed. When the speech is done, the store reopens, and everything Jobs just announced is suddenly available.

 

It’s a strategy that doesn’t make a lot of sense on paper. What if Hollywood didn’t advertise movies until opening day? What if a new
car suddenly appeared on dealer lots without advance warning? Who would notice?

 

Yet it’s a strategy that has unquestionably worked. In the past month, press mentions of Apple have outpaced mentions of Dell by a ratio of about three to one, despite the fact that Dell is nearly three times the size.

 

What’s going on? Can simple secrecy really have this much of an impact? “Mystery is sexier than transparency,” offers Brian Lam, editor of the gadget blog Gizmodo. “Do I think it works? Let’s put it this way, when was the last time you wrote about a phone 25 times before it was even confirmed as being real?”

 

But how much can secrecy and the resulting “buzz” really add to the bottom line? According to Blackfriars Marketing, $700 million a year. Analyst Rob Enderle, analyst with the Enderle Group, offers one explanation, saying, “Apple has learned that much of the initial excitement over a new product is created when potential buyers first learn of it. When products are predisclosed, often the market has lost its excitement prior to release, and competitors are better able to position their offerings around products they have known about for some time. China, in particular, can have clones on the market very quickly.”

 

In other words, demand for a product—at least an Apple product—is at its height the day the product is announced, and then it starts to fade. Apple positions itself to capture the highest possible amount of sales while that frenzy is in full bloom. And that in turn is fed by the bare trickle of information that seeps out of Apple as slowly as molasses, a vicious circle of incredibly high demand for a virtually nonexistent supply of information