Apple Patents Portrait-Landscape Flipping 354
theodp writes "On Tuesday, the USPTO granted a patent to Apple for Portrait-landscape rotation heuristics for a portable multifunction device (USPTO), which covers 'displaying information on the touch screen display in a portrait view or a landscape view based on an analysis of data received from the one or more accelerometers.' Perhaps the USPTO Examiners didn't get a chance to review the circa-1991 Computer Chronicles video of the Radius Pivot monitor before deeming Apple's invention patentable. Or check out the winning touchArcade trivia contest entry, which noted the circa-1982 Corvus Concept sported a 15-inch, high-resolution, bit-mapped display screen that also flipped between portrait and landscape views when rotated, like our friend the iPhone. Hey, everything old is new again, right?"
Re:Brainflash (Score:5, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Not prior art (Score:4, Funny)
Re:But ... (Score:4, Funny)
So they essentially patented using a finger gesture to lock the screen in portrait or landscape mode...
I am guessing that you can figure out what the finger gesture is that I have for the patent office and Apple.