Apple continues to attempt to patent any and everything to do with multi-touch technology and I’m starting to get annoyed with it. (Apple files patent for multitouch manipulation of 3D objects)

The big push is to develop a more natural interaction with our digital content.  I believe the natural user interface (NUI) is one of the main reasons that the iPhone has been such a game changer in the smart phone market.  I don’t know how many people I’ve talked to that have said ‘I just went into the apple store to see one, played with it and I ended up buying it’.  It’s the NUI that makes this phone so irresistible.  The swipe, pinch and zoom gestures make interacting with the iPhone so easy that I’m pretty sure my grandmother could fiddle her way into mapping her home or maybe even cropping and sending photos.

This is all fantastic for users so why do I have my panties in a wad?

Apple has been claiming patents on each and every one of these natural UI interactions and natural gestures.  I believe that this has had a profound affect on the other competitive mobile operating systems, namely Google’s Android OS.

Android 1.0 came out on capacitive touch screens which means the screens were multi-touch capable.  I guess Google didn’t want build multi-touch into the first generation operating system because of resource restraints. . .  errr, Ok I guess.  Now Android 2.0 is out and it obviously has the ability to handle multi-touch.  It’s documented and in the official APIs.  You won’t however find multitouch in the Android browser or anywhere in Google’s new Nexus One.  From Engadget’s first hands on with the Nexus One:

One other note: multitouch has not been included here, so while the functionality is supported in Android 2.0 and up, we’re still dealing with a one-finger-at-a-time experience… which leaves something to be desired when you’ve got a beautiful touchscreen like this to play around on.

So why the glaring omission?  Should we place the blame squarely at the feet of the Cupertino lawyers?  I actually don’t believe that we should.  Any gesture that we consider ‘natural’ should not be patentable.  But I’m no lawyer, so just in case I’m mistaken, I’m going to go ahead and try to file a patent for raising of one’s middle finger.  Microsoft isn’t shying away from pinch and zoom gestures in it’s new Windows 7 operating system.  And it’s pretty clear Palm’s willing to let the lawyers fight it out.

The real reason for the omission, in my humble opinion is, I believe Google fears loosing it’s strategic partnership with Apple.  So I’m here is my plea to the Google Android team:

You are bigger than Apple.  You are smarter than Apple.  Apple’s iPhone needs a real competitor.  Take notes from Palm and don’t fear the Cupertino lawyer contingency.   And lastly, keep in mind that Apple should fear loosing it’s strategic partnership with Google not the other way around.

Please update the Nexus One.  Multitouch is now a standard on smart phones.  I mean it’s 2010 for gosh sake.

Update on the Nexus One:  Surprise, surprise: HTC’s Euro-spec Nexus One does multitouch,  I actually think this may prove my point.  What’s the deal Google?  Everything is good to go in Europe but I guess you fear that big red fruity company in your backyard.

Update: (seriously stop it already) Apple Patent Application Could Presage Thinner Devices

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 at 3:25 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.