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Patent Application Points to iPhone Gloves
The New Year brings news of a handy accessory for iPhone users who want to check their e-mail, change a song or send a tweet while standing outside in the cold. An Apple patent application, published Jan. 1, reveals an idea for winter gloves with special iPhone-responsive fingertips for the thumb, index and middle finger.
The iPhone's touchscreen responds to the electrical response from a user's fingertips, according to AppleInsider, which makes typing with gloves on a futile effort. The plans outlined in the patent application show a two-layered glove: The outer layer is weatherproof, but under a removable cap on your typing fingertips is a second layer that simulates the electrical feedback of human skin.
The application was filed by Ropes & Gray lawyers on June 28th, 2007, the day before the iPhone's launch, but there's no telling yet whether Apple will be releasing its own iGloves anytime soon. In the mean time, Dots Gloves LLC has just released its own variant, the iPhone Glove.
As any cold-weather iPhone user can likely attest, the sleeker the handheld electronic device, the more likely it is to go flying from your knit-gloved paws as soon as you take it out of your pocket. A word of advice to Apple product developers: Add a rubber mitt to the inside of these gloves, and make sure that your lawyers write a thorough and prominent product disclaimer.
[Hat tips to iLounge and Pocket-lint]
Posted by Product Team on January 2, 2009 at 02:34 PM | Permalink
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