Apple has been awarded a patent for a multipoint touchscreen. U.S.
Patent No. 7,663,607, entitled “Multipoint Touchscreen,” more specifically covers a larger, two-hand touchscreen, or as mentioned in the patent itself, a “tablet PC.” The patent’s summary descibes a transparent capacitive sensing surface that can sense multiple simultaneous touches and at distinct locations, similar to the technology seen in the recent announced iPad.
This allows the computer to react to the multiple touches at once, allowing for more advanced interation than possible on a single-touch sensing surface. As with all Apple patents, this filing does not necessarily represent any future product release from Apple, but offers evidence of the company’s research in this area.
