iLounge

By Charles Starrett

Senior Editor, iLounge
Published: Friday, June 5, 2009
News Category: iPhone

A pair of new Apple patent filings suggest the company is working on both a method for sharing media files like video, photos, and music while on a call, and a multi-touch control scheme for Click Wheel iPods. Titled “Methods and systems for mixing media with communications,” the first patent describes a scenario in which the user is discussing a piece of media during a phone call, and then hits an “Add Media” button within the Phone application to attach and send the item to the iPhone user on the other end of the call. The filing also makes several references to interactive video conferences, suggesting the feature may be planned for a future iPhone model, as video conferencing is not possible with currently-available versions of the iPhone.

The second filing, titled “Multi-dimensional Scroll Wheel,” describes a Click Wheel-like control apparatus that includes circuitry allowing it to “detect input gestures that traverse the center of the scroll wheel and to detect multi-touch input.” It goes on to suggest possible gestures to be used with the improved controls, such as side-to-side swipes for moving images or album covers across the screen, or a rotating two-finger gesture for zooming in and out of images, depending on the direction of the rotation, as well as the more familiar iPhone pinch-and-zoom gesture. As with all Apple patents, these filings do not necessarily represent any future product release from Apple, but offer evidence of the company’s research in this area. [via AppleInsider]