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New iPod design patents filed
Apple has filed a series of patents on new iPod designs, AppleInsider reveals. Most notably, the designs avoid the iPod's iconic click-wheel in favor of a series of other interfaces: a 12-key layout similar to cell phones; rectangular scroll "strips" similar to laptop trackpads; a four-way button that looks like some videogame controllers; and most intriguingly, a design with no buttons or touch-sensitive area at all. The latter could be an iPod which uses voice commands -- an invention made possible by an earlier Apple patent. Ready to ditch your iPod Nano already? Apple could have a replacement soon.
Posted by Owen Thomas 10:04 AM 5 Comments comment | Add a Comment

Yeah, big deal. I wish they could just fix my iPod mini and it's power problem. It seems their solution is obsolescence, hoping I'll drop another few hundred bucks when the last product is barely one year old!
Posted By Jay, Santa Clarita, CA : 11:59 AM  

They're all uglier than sin and look like sketches made by a 10 year-old...surely these are just to throw off their competition...I hope
Posted By Andy, WhoDey, Cincinnati : 12:13 PM  

This sounds like an interesting proposition, though it makes no menition of the rumour of the interface being integrated directly into the screen. It's interesting how Apple keeps us guessing as to what's next. What I wonder is if Apple is purposely leaking these patent filings to not only throw off the competition but to also keep the Cult of Apple salivating.
Posted By Clinton, Montreal, Quebec : 2:34 PM  

big mistake...love the click wheel
Posted By Anonymous : 8:27 PM  

I think the clickwheel should stay otherwise you'd probably loose sells.
Posted By Anonymous : 11:09 AM  

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