Apple's US 20110007021: TOUCH AND HOVER SENSING
The first claim of Apple's published US application 20110007021 states:
A capacitive touch and hover sensing apparatus comprising:
a cover surface;a sensor array substantially adjacent to the cover surface;a touch and hover control system that transmits a first alternating current (AC) signal to the sensor array and measures a capacitance of the sensor array resulting from the first AC signal;an AC shield, wherein the sensor array is positioned substantially between the AC shield and the cover surface; and an AC shield driving system that transmits a second AC signal to the AC shield such that a first voltage of the sensor array is substantially the same as a second voltage of the AC shield.
The "background" section notes:
[0004]While some touch sensors can also detect a hover event, i.e., an object near but not touching the touch sensor, typical hover detection information may be of limited practical use due to, for example, limited hover detection range, inefficient gathering of hover information, etc.
One notes PCT/US10/41391 filed on 07-08-2010 which is Published claims the benefit of 12/501,382, and one notes that
WO/2011/005977 published without an ISR on January 13, 2011.
**Separately, intomobile writes:
You know what would grant even longer battery life? Not making the devices thinner, using the new capacitive touchscreen creation method and keep the same battery size. Boom.
When manufacturers shrink a device, the battery shrinks along with it. The iPhone 4 is almost a miracle in that it gets more than a full day’s worth of battery life and is small and thin as it is. Of course, looking at the innards reveals that the battery is actually quite large. Apple managed to make the device thinner, but gave the battery more real estate inside.
The Verizon iPhone was just announced recently, but we still expect a refresh of the current iPhone 4 some time this summer. Will we see an even thinner and lighter device by that time?
A capacitive touch and hover sensing apparatus comprising:
a cover surface;a sensor array substantially adjacent to the cover surface;a touch and hover control system that transmits a first alternating current (AC) signal to the sensor array and measures a capacitance of the sensor array resulting from the first AC signal;an AC shield, wherein the sensor array is positioned substantially between the AC shield and the cover surface; and an AC shield driving system that transmits a second AC signal to the AC shield such that a first voltage of the sensor array is substantially the same as a second voltage of the AC shield.
The "background" section notes:
[0004]While some touch sensors can also detect a hover event, i.e., an object near but not touching the touch sensor, typical hover detection information may be of limited practical use due to, for example, limited hover detection range, inefficient gathering of hover information, etc.
One notes PCT/US10/41391 filed on 07-08-2010 which is Published claims the benefit of 12/501,382, and one notes that
WO/2011/005977 published without an ISR on January 13, 2011.
**Separately, intomobile writes:
You know what would grant even longer battery life? Not making the devices thinner, using the new capacitive touchscreen creation method and keep the same battery size. Boom.
When manufacturers shrink a device, the battery shrinks along with it. The iPhone 4 is almost a miracle in that it gets more than a full day’s worth of battery life and is small and thin as it is. Of course, looking at the innards reveals that the battery is actually quite large. Apple managed to make the device thinner, but gave the battery more real estate inside.
The Verizon iPhone was just announced recently, but we still expect a refresh of the current iPhone 4 some time this summer. Will we see an even thinner and lighter device by that time?
posted by Lawrence B. Ebert at 6:54 AM
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