Apple Hand-Held Patent Leans Further Towards Onyx

If you can stomach reading something a little more in-depth than the usual ephemeral internet dross, and you're interested (is there anybody who isn't?) in the prospect of an Apple-made cellphone, it's worth taking a look at Neo's summary of recent Apple touchscreen-related patents over at MacNN.com. 

Regular SlashGear readers might find most interesting the similarities between some of Apple's patents and the promised functionality of the Onyx concept phone.  Okay, so "Touchscreen" and "Multi-functionality" could apply to any old Treo or Windows Mobile PDA-phone, but when they throw in "differentiating between light and hard touches", "motion activated input device" and "3-D spatial gestures" they're obviously talking about a pretty unique hand-held. 

The first, light and hard touches, could easily be Onyx's capability of reacting to the touch of finger, cheek or even a kiss; motion activated and gestures is an even more straightforward connection – a key feature of Onyx is the ability to naturally interact using gestures such as flicking away a text message to send it, or crossing over a screen to close it.

As news of the huge investment – intellectual or otherwise – Apple has made in hand-held technology continues to emerge, it's looking ever more likely that an innovative cellphone is on the cards.  The question then becomes – what will separate that cellphone from the multitudes already available by existing manufacturers?  Instinctive controls as previewed with Onyx would certainly make any handset stand head and shoulders above the rest.

Apple files Multi-functional hand-held device patent application [MacNN.com]