Apple may have just grabbed onto a patent regarding touchscreens that may affect the whole touchscreen smartphone market. The maker if the popular iPhone has just been awarded the US Patent No. 7966578. It deals with technology behind touchscreen displays that may spell bad news for other touchscreen smartphone makers in the market. Many people say that said patent may give Apple the upper hand and possibly even further monopolize the touchscreen smartphone market.
For those who like to read some technical jargon, the patent states of a portable device with “a computer-implemented method, for use in conjunction with a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display, comprises displaying a portion of page content, including a frame displaying a portion of frame content and also including other content of the page, on the touch screen display”.
The words might be a bit confusing to the ordinary layman like most of us. But interpretations of the said patent may cover all portable devices that use a multi-touch screen. Or it can even just be limited to cover Apple’s own technology scope when it comes to touchscreens. If it is the former, then it might be a means for Apple to push competitors out of the touchscreen device market and establish a monopoly for itself. This may be some cause of concern for many device makers indeed. But fortunately, it may be considered as a worst case scenario.
But for whatever reason, having a hold of such a patent would surely give any company an upper hand. How Apple would use it in the future would be something to look forward to. It might just define the direction of where the touchscreen device market may be headed. But then again, it may not.
Image Source: Apple
