According to Apple, the charger/battery pack combo would be for those times you need an emergency recharge and don’t have an AC power source. An integrated processor would manage the power distribution between what goes to the computer and what goes to the auxiliary battery, and could even include a USB port for charging a second gadget. Apple even gets ambitious and mentions the possiblility of introducing solar or wireless charging into the mix.
As for the five-finger gestures, Apple has a found a new use for them. While they’re currently using the five-finger reverse pinch to bring up the launchpad in OS X Lion, the patent indicates that a normal five-finger pinch would zoom the screen out, giving you a broad look at all your open “spaces.” And it seems feasible that the two actions could be meshed together at opposite ends of the five-finger pinch spectrum. [Apple Insider and The Register via CrunchGear]
moggyx
Friday, April 1, 2011 at 4:51 PMSeriously….. the American patent system is border line retarded and Apple just tries to patent anything. Why not just patent multiple finger gestures instead of specifying the particular number?
I am also sure that Energizer and other companies who have battery powered USB charging packs would have a one finger gesture for Apples’ patent application