Haptic feedback este un sistem care ofera terminalelor mobile capacitatea de a “raspunde” atunci cand un utilizator interactioneaza cu ele. In general feedback-ul acesta se refera la vibratiile pe care le simtiti cand folositi un gamepad si jucati un joc ce are tehnologia implementata, iar Apple vrea sa o introduca in terminalele sale. Apple a dezvoltat un sistem de haptic feedback liniar, diferit de cel existent pentru alte dispozitive, acesta folosind un motor vibrator liniar si un arc pe care compania l-a atasat de un motor electric liniar. Acest nou sistem urmeaza a fi utilizat pentru a alerta utilizatorii cand au notificari noi si teoretic ar trebui sa inlocuiasca sistemul de alerte actual.

Mobile phones have built-in vibrators that produce mechanical vibrations, which are intended to be felt by a user of the mobile phone as an alert or feedback mechanism. The vibrator is part of what is referred to as a haptic alert device or haptic feedback device. In a linear vibrator, a spring-loaded weight is attached to a moving element of a linear electric motor. The motor drives the attached weight back-and-forth, in response to a sinusoidal input drive current. The frequency of the drive current is controlled so that it coincides with a resonant frequency of the spring, weight and motor combination. This enables the driven weight to produce strong vibrations.

  Tehnologia descrisa mai sus face parte dintr-o cerere pentru un brevet de inventie, insa ea nu este singura depusa de Apple in ultima vreme la oficiul pentru brevete de inventie si marci din SUA. Compania americana a depus totodata mai multe cereri de brevetare ale unor tehnologii care pot fi utilizate in touchscreen-urile iDevice- urilor, in ecranele Mac-urilor sau in Cinema Display. Mai jos aveti link-uri catre fiecare brevet in parte si descrierea aferenta, insa eu unul nu mi-as face iluzii ca Apple va produce un iMac, cu touchscreen, Tim Cook afirmand destul de clar ca acest lucru este putin probabil a se intampla in viitorul apropiat.

Today, Apple revealed a series of seven patents regarding new and varied touchscreen technologies and methodologies that could be applied to future iDevices, an iMac (desktop) and “stand-alone display” such as Apple’s Cinema Display. The inventions are extremely detailed and cover a wide spectrum of technologies. For the curious, we provide you with a list of Apple’s patent applications that were published by the US Patent Office today regarding these new technologies and methods:

• 20120299983 – Writing Data to Sub-Pixels using Different Write Sequences
• 20120299971 – Additional Application of Voltage during a Write Sequence    
• 20120299970 – Application of Voltage to Data Lines during Vcom Toggling
• 20120299803 – Pixel-to-Pixel Coupling in Displays
• 20120299900 – Scanning Orders in Inversion Schemes of Displays
• 20120299894 – Pre-Charging of Sub-Pixels
• 20120299892 – Charging Display Artifacts across Frames