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Apple Working on Touchless Control and Curved iPhone Screen (bloomberg.com)

Posted by msmash on from the up-next dept.

Apple might be working on touchless gesture control and curved screens for future iPhones, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. From a report: The control feature would let iPhone users perform some tasks by moving their finger close to the screen without actually tapping it. The technology likely won't be ready for consumers for at least two years, if Apple chooses to go forward with it, a person familiar with the work said. Apple has long embraced new ways for humans to interact with computers. Co-Founder Steve Jobs popularized the mouse in the early 1980s. Apple's latest iPhones have a feature called 3D Touch that responds differently depending on different finger pressures. The new gesture technology would take into account the proximity of a finger to the screen, the person said. Apple is also developing iPhone displays that curve inward gradually from top to bottom, one of the people familiar with the situation said. That's different than the latest Samsung smartphone screens, which curve down at the edges.

74 comments

  1. Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "This is the stupidest idea ever!" says every fandroid slashdotter, until Google copies the idea.

    1. Re:Courage by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      Is there a point to it or are they just out of real ideas?

      I get the marketing angle, I'm sure Apple buyers won't want to be seen dead holding one of those traditional flat screens from last year.

      What I'm wondering is if there's anything more than that.

      --
      No sig today...
    2. Re:Courage by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 1

      Because Apple didn't copy it from Samsung....

    3. Re: Courage by peragrin · · Score: 1

      Yep this is a base level tech needed for holgraphic displays.

      If your display doesn't have a physical surface then you need to be able to pick up finger movements in the air.
      The apple Hwatch in 2025 will combine iPhone and new holgraphic tech into a watch sized device. You can expand your fingers and watch YouTube at a 7-8" display resolution, but text messaging is done at smaller display sizes.

      The only issue so far is that the battery requires access to your blood stream to generate the power required to run siad display. You wouldn't mind a mini hydro generator in one of your arteries would you?

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    4. Re:Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you've got the roles reversed there, bud.... Apple did that for years to Droid stuff.. Mocking first, then copying later, pretending they did it first.

    5. Re:Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Its more like apple is running out other peoples ideas to copy.

    6. Re:Courage by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      And it certainly hasn't taken them 5 years to do so, either.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    7. Re:Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Samsung Galaxy S5 (at least) has a version of this - it's part of Samsung's TouchWiz. When I first used my S5 (years ago, yes), it took me about 10 seconds to realize how stupid it was with all the that's-not-what-I-was-trying-to-do interactions to find it and turn it off.

      If your phone makes you think you have fat, clumsy fingers now, just wait...

    8. Re:Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know most of us are pretty pissed off that Google got rid of the headphone jack from the Pixel 2, right? I personally refuse to buy one because of it.

    9. Re: Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lol, curved screens, welcome to five years ago Apple. Touchless controls sounds interesting, but if it's anything like the touch bar MacBook it will be a disaster. Glad I vacated Apple's ecosystem. Been only a disaster since Jobs dies.

    10. Re:Courage by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      Actually, the only people to claim that "Apple did it first" are the fuck-shits like you who infest slashdot.

    11. Re: Courage by karnal · · Score: 1

      "watch YouTube at a 7-8" display resolution"

      Sure, but can it do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs?

      --
      Karnal
    12. Re:Courage by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Like much of R&D there is a lot of working on ideas, that rarely will come out to a real product, if it does is a significantly different then the early uses of the idea.

      Multi-touch display Microsoft was showing its early R&D of the Surface early use of a multi-touch display, At the time of the early 2000's it wasn't planed to be a tablet, but an actual Surface of a table or desk. Figuring that people would use them to play games in a restaurant, order meals off the table. Then Apple got to the market first with the multi-touch iPhone, which moved multi-touch displays from big desks to small screens.

      Curved Screens and Touchless controls where we are thinking of using them on a Cell phone or a tablet may actually be on the Next generation Mac, or used in some better VR/AR technology. Perhaps instead of glasses, we have Contact lenses. Perhaps not, perhaps nothing will come up from the technology, and R&D because via the R&D process they found, they couldn't come up with a useful solution for the technology that worked well enough to be a product.

      For an other example there was talk about a USB (non-C) plug that can be plugged in in either direction, where the connector bent to fit the standard USB Plug. Which never came out, I think because USB-C can be plugged in in either directions, and the bending of a connector probably couldn't be made reliable and robust enough for a product.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    13. Re: Courage by cayenne8 · · Score: 1
      Hey, I for one am looking forward the iPhone Theramin!!!

      Would that be the iTheramin??

      That would be too cool....I could listen to the live versions of Whole Lotta Love, or No Quarter, and play the theremin parts along with Jimmy!!!

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    14. Re: Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL these have both been on Samsung phones for years.

  2. So basically this copies Samsung by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's called Air touch or touch sensitivity...

  3. How about working on iOS and Mac Pro? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are they still updating the Mac platform or are they just a luxury toy manufacturer now?

  4. At last! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The control feature would let iPhone users perform some tasks by moving their finger close to the screen without actually tapping it

    So flipping it a bird will have the desired effect?

  5. Mind Control by Zorro · · Score: 1

    Apple knows what you are thinking.

    Now it will act on it.

  6. The pinnacle of innovation... by CriticalYetLazy · · Score: 1

    Oh wait, just another stolen idea.

    1. Re:The pinnacle of innovation... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ford wasn't the first automobile. Google wasn't the first search engine. iPod wasn't the first MP3 player. iPad wasn't the first tablet. iPhone wasn't the first smartphone.

      It's not about being first. It's about having the best implementation.

    2. Re:The pinnacle of innovation... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      like homepod.. oh wait thats crap
      like apple maps...oh wait thats crap
      like apple music...oh wait thats crap

    3. Re:The pinnacle of innovation... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      No it's like corporate pop music; it's not about being the best, it's about being the most palatable to the masses. Big difference, that.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    4. Re:The pinnacle of innovation... by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      Only fuck-wits like you think that Apple expects everything they do to be the best. Meanwhile, Apple is rolling in dough, and you're an anonymous pile of shit.

    5. Re:The pinnacle of innovation... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your very lucky to be a pile of shit with a name. How cool are you.

  7. But what ... is it good for? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    What's the advantage of not touching your display? I mean, aside of fewer greasy fingerprints.

    Sorry, I don't see the huge advantage, could anyone clue me in?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:But what ... is it good for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's like moving your mouse without clicking, or hovering your Wacom pen over your Wacom tablet... it can show you where you will click, without clicking, allowing for more precise drawing, denser sets of controls. Not sure how necessary it is, but it's not 100% pointless.

    2. Re:But what ... is it good for? by JoeyRox · · Score: 2

      What's the advantage of not touching your display? I mean, aside of fewer greasy fingerprints. Sorry, I don't see the huge advantage, could anyone clue me in?

      Had to think about it myself. Presuming the touchless version implies a move away from capacitive touchscreens, this new tech means it can be used with gloves and in wet conditions.

    3. Re:But what ... is it good for? by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      Sorry, I don't see the huge advantage, could anyone clue me in?

      Getting to make hand gestures to dismiss a phone call while doing Obi-Wan impressions seems like something I obviously need in my life. I'm sure there's probably other stuff you could do as well, but who cares about any of that?

    4. Re:But what ... is it good for? by quintus_horatius · · Score: 1

      Douglas Adams foresaw the pros and cons forty years ago in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy:

      A loud clatter of gunk music flooded through the Heart of Gold cabin as Zaphod searched the sub-etha radio wave bands for news of himself. The machine was rather difficult to operate. For years radios had been operated by means of pressing buttons and turning dials; then as the technology became more sophisticated the controls were made touch-sensitive--you merely had to brush the panels with your fingers; now all you had to do was wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope. It saved a lot of muscular expenditure, of course, but meant that you had to sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same program.

      Zaphod waved a hand and the channel switched again.

    5. Re:But what ... is it good for? by BronsCon · · Score: 2

      Samsung users didn't see a huge advantage to it in the S4, either. The feature died with the S6.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    6. Re:But what ... is it good for? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      The advantage is that Apple has a reason for you to buy an iPhone 11.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    7. Re:But what ... is it good for? by drew_kime · · Score: 1

      What's the advantage of not touching your display? I mean, aside of fewer greasy fingerprints.

      Assuming the sensing technology can penetrate, you'll be able to put it in a completely water-tight case. Lots of other case and mounting options become possible actually.

      --
      Nope, no sig
    8. Re:But what ... is it good for? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In my country we use our right hand to clean up the after we use the toilet. Sometimes the touchscreens are too big to use with small fingers. 3D touch would be very hygenical here. No more need for the towl to even be outside the toilet.

    9. Re:But what ... is it good for? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      I could already do that with a normal touch display. I actually have touch sensors (more like proximity sensors, actually) behind the tiles in my bathroom. All that takes is a relatively large electromagnetic field you can disturb, which is of course harder to do for smaller structures, but then, the glass of a phone cover is thinner than the average tile.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    10. Re:But what ... is it good for? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      I always though it was eating with the right and shitting on the left?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  8. Price? by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

    Will Apple also be working on the ridiculously high pricing of their iPhone models?

    1. Re:Price? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They charge what the market will bear. Capitalism works that way. Some models are cheaper, some are more expensive. Nearly all meet their internal sales goals. The ones that don't are discontinued.

    2. Re:Price? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Absolutely! If you are willing to pay that much for a flat screen, you must be willing to pay more for a curved one. I mean, it's CURVED!

    3. Re:Price? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      iPhone 8 $699
      Google Pixel 2 $649

      iPhone 8+ $799
      Google Pixel 2 XL $849

    4. Re:Price? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good job deliberately leaving out:
      iPhone X $999

    5. Re:Price? by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

      What's your point? I can get a good phone running android that meets my needs for less than $100. I cannot get a similar phone from Apple.

    6. Re:Price? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple has chosen not to cater to bottomfeeders, no offense intended. It is a clear part of their business model and it has served them well financially and strategically. They don't sell "good" phones, they sell great phones. The Pixel is an example of an apples-to-apples comparison (another great phone). Apple's success is not predicated on selling something to everyone on the face of the planet. They have been wildly successful with their current strategy so don't expect to see it change anytime soon.

    7. Re:Price? by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      Apple doesn't give a shit about you, and neither does anyone with any self-esteem. Ferrari won't sell you an econobox, either.

  9. Our prophet, Douglas Adams by schklerg · · Score: 1

    He predicted this! I can't find the quote but something about radios removing knobs and buttons from the radio so you have to hold your hand in one place for it to work. I for one am thrilled to enjoy the ambiguity of gesture interpretation.

    --
    Be Excellent To Each Other
    1. Re:Our prophet, Douglas Adams by Megane · · Score: 1

      He also said something about people thinking that digital watches were really cool. If he had lived longer, he would have seen the error of his ways; the real problem was people thinking smartphones are really cool.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    2. Re:Our prophet, Douglas Adams by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He also said something about people thinking that digital watches were really cool

      Apple iwatch seems to be gaining some traction. I'm assuming it's cool factor because otherwise it just seems like a cross between an average looking watch with rubbish battery life and a smartphone with an impractically small screen.

      (Don't get me wrong though - I do think digital watches are pretty cool. In fact I'm wearing a classic 80s model right now. I just value retro simplicity and long battery life over dubious "smarts" in my watches).

  10. Apple earnings must be shit this quarter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They floated two big rumors that aren't going to be in products for greater than two years. Probably the iPhone X flopped, and nobody wants to pay $500 extra for that useless touchbar.

  11. mom the mother advises touch control for everyone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    never without permission.. turd flinging is as violent as we should ever get!?!? cease fire stand down,, in the moms we trust..

  12. Good idea by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    I like it. This way I can tell what UI element I am about to touch before I actually perform the finger press. This is genius.

  13. So am I missing something here....? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because Android has had gesture control since like 4.4 KitKat (2013).

  14. Meanwhile... by Kenja · · Score: 2

    Siri still bites, no workstation level computer (mac pro), iOS is getting bloated and the Home Pod is a flop. But sure, curved screens, work on that...

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:Meanwhile... by Megane · · Score: 1

      You forgot to add things breaking in every Mac OS release, like security and external display drivers.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    2. Re:Meanwhile... by dj245 · · Score: 1

      Siri still bites, no workstation level computer (mac pro), iOS is getting bloated and the Home Pod is a flop. But sure, curved screens, work on that...

      None of the things you listed will have a huge impact on profitability if they are improved. Curved screens are more likely to break and should increase sales.

      --
      Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
    3. Re:Meanwhile... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I want to see how the makers of protective phone cases are going to respond to a screen that intentionally curves out to maximise potential contact with pointy concrete bits. Seems like an interesting engineering challenge if nothing else.

  15. Touchless control: Yep.. been there, done that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.mysmartphonetutor.com/scroll-through-pictures-using-samsung-galaxy-s5-touchless-controls/

  16. Wow! by Comboman · · Score: 1

    Apple is also developing iPhone displays that curve inward gradually from top to bottom, one of the people familiar with the situation said.

    Wow! A handset with a convex face so your check doesn't press into the screen/keypad! Just like the Nexus S from 2010 (and pretty much every phone prior to touchscreens). I hope they are granted a patent for this truly revolutionary new idea.

    --
    Support Right To Repair Legislation.
    1. Re:Wow! by Luthair · · Score: 1

      Didn't they already do that - their phones bent if kept in pockets.....

  17. Innovate by copying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Once again, they act as if this is new stuff. My old-ass Nexus S (2010) had an inward curved screen, and I don't even think it was the first to have one. Touch-less controls? Voice work, and I'd rather not have an Kinect in my phone.

  18. News at 11 by Luthair · · Score: 1

    Apple might implement features long present on competing products, stay with us for 24/7 coverage on tech blogs.

  19. Air Gestures by BronsCon · · Score: 1

    The new gesture technology would take into account the proximity of a finger to the screen

    You mean like the Air Gestures feature Samsung had at least as far back as 2013? They died with the S6 because nobody used them, I'm sure Apple's "innovative" solution will be different.

    --
    APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    1. Re:Air Gestures by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      *waves hand* - These aren’t the (an)droids you’re looking for.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    2. Re:Air Gestures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I see everyone posting videos like this but some of the "best use" of the feature is missing from those videos. S4 had that hover preview thing where you could hold your finger over half and inch above the screen and you could see the rest of the sms messages/notifications/zoomed in thumbnail of the images/contact details/calendar events(basically most of the build in samsung apps used the gesture.) in a popup kind of small window without tapping on them.

    3. Re:Air Gestures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably.

      Once Apple commits to a key feature, it usually puts in the effort to think it through and make it usable and performant.
      Samsung's approach is to half bake it, throw it at the wall, and see if sticks.

    4. Re:Air Gestures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is that why my wife's phone (s5 iirc... or was it s6?) is such a pain to use? It's like a running joke with us: she'll say "look at this ..." and pass over her phone, which will then randomly change to some other screen for no apparent reason (the one with all the open apps lined up is common but not guaranteed). "Air gestures" would explain this nicely - and if they can be turned off might even fix the problem.

    5. Re:Air Gestures by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      I believe they're off by default. If they're on, you can tell her it's her fault LOL

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
  20. Which way is it curved by rossdee · · Score: 1

    I guess from the summary it is concave - and only in the length, not in the width.

    Is it cuved at the back too? (convex)

    If so when you lay it on a desk it would rock

    BTW I gave up Apple products in 1988

  21. Another "original" feature by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    My Galaxy S4 with its hover controls called and would like it's innovation back.
    And while my none of the Galaxy S series curve inwards from top to bottom I'm sure LG has something to say about Apple's innovation.

  22. I see an advantage by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

    When I get a telemarketer, I can just flip him the bird, and the phone will hang up on him.

    --
    Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
  23. So they're copying Samsung by Solandri · · Score: 1

    The control feature would let iPhone users perform some tasks by moving their finger close to the screen without actually tapping it.

    So basically, Samsung's Air View which they introduced in 2013.

    (I don't think they're really copying, given that proximity is a basic universal concept and thus an obvious choice for an interface. But I figured I'd use the term in honor of Apple fans throwing "copying" around at everything and everyone who does anything remotely similar to what Apple does, even if they did it before Apple.)

  24. Such wowe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow they invented LG G Flex

  25. Insolent and daring iPhone X... by ElitistWhiner · · Score: 1

    Facial recognition would actually DO something valuable beyond unlocking your phone for after you're found dead or criminally arrested.

  26. Welcome Apple fans by AbRASiON · · Score: 2

    Now you too can join the misery of curved phone displays some of us Samsung fans have been offered!

    I for one, will not purchase ANY phone with a curved display, period. When my Note 5 dies, I'll be sadly leaving Samsung, who I've been very happy with. If they can't have the common sense to offer the option, they lose the money.

    Easier to break, harder to replace, virtually impossible to get one of those thin glass screen protectors.
    Nope.

  27. Young Zaphod by segwonk · · Score: 1

    Anyone else here remember Douglas Adams' short story Young Zaphod Plays it Safe?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    The story, set in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe universe, includes reference to a radio that is tuned by waving your fingers it. And it drove Zaphod nuts because any accidental movement would tune it to another station. He would often just throw things at it.

    Adams was ahead of his time.

    --
    - ------ Go 'til ya know.