Apple Patents Multi-touch Language, More

Apple was recently granted patents describing a series of multi-touch gestures for controlling actions such as text selection, point and click, right and middle button taps, and global search. The collection of multi-touch gestures Apple included looks to be an interesting glimpse into the company’s plans for trackpad-based navigation and computer control, and possibly for its mobile devices, too.

According to Patently Apple, the multi-touch system lets users perform two-handed gestures on a surface designed for a single hand, or to use a two-handed touch surface with twice as many possible gesture combinations. Just exactly when these gestures will likely show up in Apple products is unknown, as is whether or not they’ll require new hardware or only software updates.

Apple was also awarded a patent for a system that controls the tempo of music playback when working out. If a user slows down, for example, the music speed will increase to help push the user back into their target workout range.

Other Apple patents that were published today describe a new antenna system that includes periodic shunt inductors, a widget manager, digital file management, and methods for transferring images between devices.