Upcoming iOS 7 Killer Features on iPhone 6, iPhone 5S Release Date: Optimal Touchscreen Navigation & Programmable Control Keys
Simultaneous user inputs and configurable device buttons are parts of the fresh batch of Apple inventions that likely will make their way to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 5S on their separate release dates.
The tech giant won patent approval of these exciting technologies this week, foremost of which is the ability of extra-sensitive touchscreen panels to accommodate and interpret multiple gestures, Patently Apple said in a new report.
Actual implementation of the new input system is across the board, applicable too to Mac notebooks, though the specific Apple patent focused the immediate deployment on iOS-powered mobile devices with the iPhone hogging the spotlight.
Apple engineers would want to produce the next iPhone and iPod Touch generations "with touch-sensitive surfaces that use two or more simultaneous user inputs to manipulate user interface objects," the same report said.
In one application, an iPhone user can tap on the screen and then quickly swipe using a different finger, which the system will 'read' as a set of instruction. The unit will then 'do as told'.
For example, the combination of gesture would highlight an object on the screen and then enlarge it for better scrutiny. The whole is richer manipulation of whatever task at hand, the Apple patent said.
And such already impressive gadget experience is further amped up by the likely introduction of device control keys "whose behavior may be modified in real time based on sensor readings," Patently Apple said.
The particular function is directly connected to control keys hardwired on multi-touch displays, hinting of capacitive or even disappearing buttons as mentioned in previous Apple patents alluding to the purported screen of the iPhone 6.
"Apple's granted patent covers a configurable button that may have a button member that moves relative to a device housing when it is desired to activate a switch. The button may have an associated touch sensor," the report said.
The patent, however, noted that this technology is geared at the moment for 'wearable media players' though current iPhone models function with the same attributes and have the required sensors in case the control keys are customised to the desired settings by users.
As in any other Apple patents, the inclusion of these new gadget capabilities on the rumoured iPhone 6 and iPhone 5S release date are not set on stone.
The 4-inch 5S is primed for a September landing, reports said, while the big-screen iPhone 6 is predicted for June 2014 uncaging.