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Apple Researching AirPods Case With Built-in Interactive Touchscreen
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I dont mean to be cynical but at what stage do we have enough devices to do basically the same things but in different form factors. We're wasteful enough as humans - to add another 'does 90% of what my phone does but just in a slightly different package' device to the e-waste dump when we get bored in 6 months from now. Have people stopped having handbags and / or pockets for things - even this thing needs one or other of those things unless your considering caving part of your skull in and popping it in the hole you've created - don't recommend that by the way. An Apple Watch already does this pretty well and it's permanently attached to your wrist - leaving your pockets entirely empty.
Oh, the memories. I used to do that like an idiot; it made an awful watch haha. Saved me once though when I wanted to play some music in the car, but my phone was dead. Long live the 1/8" audio jack.
Nothing new here, Poly has already released wireless buds with a case which includes a touch display
Why not make AirPods Pro buds last 12 hours on a single charge first?
I’m just waiting for the silicone battery packs for my AirPods, and the headgear to keep them in my ears…
MORE junk to push up prices and profits.
Apple, please walk away from this "Homer Simpson of cars" path you are heading down.
Apple, please walk away from this "Homer Simpson of cars" path you are heading down.
Don't worry, Apple will tell you how wrong you are and then sell you a solution to a problem they created.
Question is how long has apple been working on this to have a patent approved? Also, what are the chances the companies that build them is in China where your post came from and knows about it?
Many people still wanted their iPods, but couldn’t replace them when they finally died.
Many people still wanted their iPods, but couldn’t replace them when they finally died
I want less user interfaces that require eyesight, speech, and hearing.
Tactile user interfaces feel more responsive and intuitive for non-complex functionality. This is why the click wheel, iPod Shuffle, and to lesser degree, T9 texting, was so successful for its time. Just because screens are more capable and affordable now, doesn't mean we should put one in every device. Let's not also forget that a UI interface at all will duplicate touch-functions on the Airpods themselves...
Whatever happened to "less is more?" design principles?
Tactile user interfaces feel more responsive and intuitive for non-complex functionality. This is why the click wheel, iPod Shuffle, and to lesser degree, T9 texting, was so successful for its time. Just because screens are more capable and affordable now, doesn't mean we should put one in every device. Let's not also forget that a UI interface at all will duplicate touch-functions on the Airpods themselves...
Whatever happened to "less is more?" design principles?
Great idea, the return of the Ipod,
Apple has designs on a future AirPods case featuring a built-in touchscreen display that would enable users to control audio sources and interact with apps associated with the connected device, according to a newly published patent.
Filed by Apple in September 2021 and published last week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, "Devices, Methods, and Graphical User Interface Interactions with a Headphones Case" clearly depicts various embodiments for such a design, complete with images of AirPods and a touchscreen on the case's front.
"Audio output device cases are commonly passive devices used to charge audio output devices," reads the patent. "The utility of a headphone case can be enhanced, and user control over a user's wireless headphones can be improved, by configuring a headphone case with an interactive user interface to enable user control of operations associated with the wireless headphones." The patent continues:
In one embodiment, Apple envisions controlling Apple Music via the case through the use of a capacitive touchscreen with a GUI that also provides tactile feedback, allowing the user to control audio playback, adjust volume, favorite songs, and interact with their music in other ways without necessarily looking at the case to do so.
In another embodiment, the case responds to specific gestures such as taps and swipes to navigate onscreen content and invoke Siri. In one scenario, Apple describes how squeezing the case could even be a way to change the listening mode of the AirPods – likely referring to Noise Cancelation and Transparency.
Apple suggests that the case could include additional processors and memory modules that would allow it to carry out specific instructions that are traditionally associated with smartphones, computers, and other connected devices. For instance, some embodiments show the case's touchscreen providing interactive access to iPhone apps including Phone, Mail, Messages, Camera, Calendar, Weather, Maps, and more.
By integrating an interactive touchscreen display in such a way, the patent argues, "deficiencies associated with user control of wireless headphones are reduced or eliminated."
As with any filed patent, the technology it describes is unlikely to appear in a product anytime soon, if at all, but it does offer an interesting look at how Apple is exploring ways to make an AirPods case more of a functional intermediary between the AirPods themselves and the connected audio source.
Since the first AirPods launched in 2016, Apple has worked to enhance the functionality of the AirPods Case for different models. The AirPods Pro case in particular has benefited from the addition of MagSafe wireless charging, a U1 Ultra Wideband chip that supports Precision Tracking with Find My, a lanyard loop, a built-in speaker for locating and status updates, and increased battery life.
(Via Patently Apple.)
Article Link: Apple Researching AirPods Case With Built-in Interactive Touchscreen
"Hi, could you point me towards AirPods screen protectors? I just bought the new one."