It's not an obvious idea; it's definitely useful. I'm kind of kicking myself for not thinking of it myself. They deserve a patent. I've never seen this as prior art before (though GPS systems sometimes zoom out when you go fast and zoom in when you go slow - this is not exactly the same thing)

Kudos to Apple I say. This will make their device more usable.

Perhaps Apple could call this new trick "iDaggering" as it certainly removes the danger of snapping one's todger with a misguided... umm... gesture.

Although I do wonder how well it would integrate (if at all) with 3rd party apps. Could be difficult to design a UI that zooms gracefully the way Apple intends.

I like it. Although I'm never in a position to use a touchscreen when I'm jiggling around too much (running?? come on..!) it would be good for using interfaces of this type on buses, cars, turbulent 'plane trips, etc.

@Nir - True, my SatNav zooms in and out, but not the buttons. Damn annoying when you want to change a route on the go (or my passenger does, obviously, Officer...). Perhaps as more and more aircraft get fitted with glass cockpits (monitors instead of instrument dials) this technology could move on a step.

Paris, 'cos she's got something that gets wider as you jiggle it about (fnaar).

where is the novelty? As the first poster says this is an obvious idea. Not patentable.

"In typical Apple-patent inclusiveness".....err you mean futureproofing for any new devices that may come along.....apple are trying to protect themselves and their own products and patents, oh how disgraceful, how DARE they!

Now that is just fucking cool that is, just the kind of lateral thinking that Apple have built their fortune on.

And I say that as a confirmed Windows guy - and a lifelong user (and lover) of Windows Mobile since the XDA mk 1.

I can't WAIT! I must buy lots and lots of them!

... that's a really excellent idea. No, there's no sarcasm there- that's just plain clever.

This is what I think people expect from Apple- a good simple idea which (should) implement well.

I can see this being a "how did we never think of this before" thing for a great many of their competitors and users.

(I had a winmo samsung a year back that was effectively unusable because the buttons on screen were far too small to be used except sitting a desk- even the vibrations on a train turned it into a hit-and-miss nightmare)

In days of old huge adverts would be made bold

Of the new features and gimicks, we all could see

Were but... enhancements for you and me.

Now with the crunch of cash, and cost of google

its much quicker to make a doodle,

Patent application costs are low...

reap viral marketing of seeds you did sow

Without making it a PCO.

Competitors cannot patent the same idea

Your patent application was the first,

Google search, cache the idea here!

And what about the patent troll?

Without them...

... life would be so dull!

I'd be surprised if they can get that due to prior activity in this area. E.g. ' The effects of bias and x, y correlation in tapping errors can be systematically compensated for in real time, improving the tapping accuracy. This information can also be used to automatically adapt screen layout to walking speed, simplifying and spreading out the targets as the speed increases.'

In

A. Crossan, R. Murray-Smith, S. Brewster, J. Kelly, B. Musizza, Gait Phase Effects in Mobile Interaction, CHI 2005, Portland.

http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~rod/publications/CroMurBreKelMus05.pdf

And lots of academics were discussing that sort of thing long before that publication...

.. to take the phone out whilst bouncing around, thus increasing tenfold the number of units returned after being dropped on the pavement. good thinking!!

surely you'd swing it out of your pocket, go to press a small icon,

only to have a big icon appear as you press it.

Then while jogging on big icon mode you'll go to press a bigger button but without thinking about it you've stopped because even with bigger text it's hard to read and suddenly you've pressed half a dozen buttons all at once.

...but not an invention. Merely an idea.

<-- Nokia 6310i