iPhone 6 rumours are pouring in on a daily basis at the moment,
and the latest one suggests that Apple's big new feature on the
smartphone will be an on-screen tactile feedback system.
Haptic feedback is a technology which has been around for
some time. In current iPhone models this is limited to the
vibration you get when your phone rings or someone messages
you on Facebook.
On Android devices you see even more of this, with smartphones
and tablets vibrating slightly every time you tap a key on the on-
screen keyboard.
However reports from Chinese media suggest that Apple is
planning on radically improving this system on the iPhone 6 by
using a new "tactile feedback linear motor" which is more
intelligent and capable of producing different types of subtle
vibrations depending on what is needed in a particular
application.
In effect what this means is that Apple's iPhone 6 could allow
developers create on-screen buttons which when pressed give
users a feeling as if they are pressing a physical button.
The new motorm
which the report
suggests will be
manufacturered
by AAC (an
existing Apple
supplier) and
Jinlong
Electrical will even be able to "emit different vibrations
depending on the area of the touch screen that is being pressed."
The source, speaking to Chinese site Laoyaoba, said that while
the motor for the iPhone 5s costs around 35p, the new motor will
cost up to three times this amount.
Apple is no stranger to these types of system, with the company
granted a 2009 patent for an even more sophisticated haptic
feedback system.
The five-year-old patent says Apple's plan is to have a "grid of
piezoelectronic actuators that can be activated on command. By
fluctuating the frequency of these actuators, the user will "feel"
different surfaces as their finger moves across it.
Apple is expected to launch two new iPhone models in
September, one with a 4.7in screen and one with a 5.5in screen
to address the growing demand for larger screen smartphones
which Apple currently doesn't cater for.
Details about the new phones have been emerging with
increased regularity in recent weeks, with details about the
phone's durable and flexible Sapphire screen among the most
prominent reports.
It is difficult to gauge how accurate the reports from this
Chinese website are but considering that Apple manufacturers
its iPhones in China, and is said to be testing the new device with
China's mobile phone networks, there could be some truth in this
leak.
SOURCE; m.ibtimes.co.uk/apples-iphone-6-have-haptic-feedback-screen-1456151