Apple Claims to Have Invented Multitouch

Following Apple, Inc. CEO Steve Jobs' reported comments that his company "invented" the multitouch interface, stories have now surfaced that Apple is attempting to patent this approach, setting off a potential patent war with Nokia, among others.

Multitouch is a term used in the computer industry since the 1980's to refer to touch-screen technologies that respond to more complicated gestures, such as grabbing or swiping with one or more fingers.

More research demonstrated thus far has focused on larger "surface" computers, including tables, where images can be moving around by seemingly grabbing them, or walls of images.

Google's Android, ala Gphone, launch video showed a, dare I say it, iPhone-like interface.

There are many video's online from companies such as Google, Microsoft and Nokia demonstrating various applications of multitouch interfaces. The nine minute video embedded here is by Google's Jeff Han at the TED conference in February, 2006.