~~Apple Wants to Patent Keyboard Which Blows and Sucks Air ~~

Technology sure has come a long way and the keyboard is no exception. However, people have gotten so used to the feel of keyboards (e.g. the tactile response they get when pressing a key) that thinner and more advanced keyboards sometimes just feel like they are missing something.

In comes Apple which recently filed for a patent for a keyboard which blows air and can suck a key in when a finger moves towards or touches it.

The technology is obviously a way to improve user experience like tactile response from thinner keyboards developed for ever so advancing and shrinking devices like laptops.

The patent filing by the Cupertino, California-based Mac-maker was published on May 13, 2011 in U.S Patent and Trademark Office.

The patent application 20110107958 called Input devices and methods of operation was filed by Apple on November 12, 2009 and cites Aleksandar Pance as the lead inventor.

Without the complex patent filing language, the technology basically uses sensors to detect an approaching finger and is intended to increase feedback and improve user experience.

Apple hopes to achieve this through a combination of blowing air through vents in the keys or spaces between the keys, sucking in keys when they are approached, making keys more resistant to being pressed, and various combinations of these methods.

Microsoft has also been a company which is developing technologies to enhance user experience for its devices. Last November, the Redmond, Washington-based software giant filed for a patent for a shape-shifting touchscreenwhich will offer tactile response and can basically be felt.