Microblog: Apple Patents Multi-Touch UI

I can just hear the people at HTC and Palm saying (in their best Church Lady voice) "Weeellll, isn't THAT special!" - upon hearing the news that Apple was just granted patent number 7,479,949 on their multi-touch interface.

In part, the patent abstract states:

"A computer-implemented method for use in conjunction with a computing device with a touch screen display comprises: detecting one or more finger contacts with the touch screen display, applying one or more heuristics to the one or more finger contacts to determine a command for the device, and processing the command. The one or more heuristics comprise: a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a one-dimensional vertical screen scrolling command, a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a two-dimensional screen translation command, and a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a command to transition from displaying a respective item in a set of items to displaying a next item in the set of items."

Ummmm... that's a pretty good patent to have! It appears to me as if acting Apple CEO Tim Cook’s shot across the bow of Palm in regards to their up-coming "Pre" touch phone ("We will not stand for having our IP ripped off and we’ll use whatever weapons we have at our disposal [to make sure that doesn't happen]") is about to turn nasty.

Maybe Apple just wants to license the technology in good faith... NAH! Steve Jobs is listed on the patent as one of the creators... and I think the chances of them letting just any old handset maker encroach on their market-leading technology is about... oh... I don't know... ZERO percent!

I'd actually be surprised that Palm’s executive chairman, Jon Rubinstein (the former Apple executive behind the iPod), didn't see this coming. I mean, this guy worked for Steve Jobs personally - so he must know that Apple will protect this thing will all their might.

All I know is - handset makers with a multi-touch interface (Blackberry, Android phone, Palm, HTC) - that "snapping sound" you're hearing is Apple's legal team putting on their rubber gloves...