Apple has just been granted a patent which may have far reaching ramifications on the smartphone or mobile devices segment. For the users it means, Apple may monopolise the smartphone and tablet market.
The patent is about touchscreen functionality on portable devices, which says: “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.”
From outside, it looks like a big win for the company and equally big loss for the rival smartphone and tablet manufacturers. Some analysts believe Apple would now be able to arm twist its competitors as it has been granted the patent over finger movement technology used by other mobile device manufacturers as well.
Most of the patent applications, even if granted do not get so much attention, but since the Apple products such as iPhone and iPad have become such a big hit, and every other company in the space is trying to replicate the success of Apple, the patents may go on to have a huge impact on the mobile devices market.
Some of the most basic activities done by the users on a smartphone are covered in the patent, including the ‘touch’ function.
The patent begins by talking about moving web pages, but later talks about spreadsheets, word processing documents, presentation and even emails.
Last but not the least, since there are so many lawsuits in which Apple is already embroiled, it should not come as a surprise if Apple decides to use this patent to its advantage. The patent grant is still open to interpretation, and how things will pan out is remain to be seen.