As of last week Apple was granted a patent related to touch screen technologies and mobile devices, although its true that Apple patents hundreds of objects that never make it to a product, this particular patent directly links in to rumours of a "non-touch" video iPod.
The patent was filed back in September of 2005 with the listed inventors being; Jonathan Ive, Steve Hotelling, Peter Kennedy, Anthony Fadell, Duncan Kerr, Jeffrey Robbin, and Bas Ording.
The patent is described by the following abstract:
Proximity based systems and methods that are implemented on an electronic device are disclosed. The method includes sensing an object spaced away and in close proximity to the electronic device. The method also includes performing an action in the electronic device when an object is sensed.
Some descriptions from the patent:
An I/O platform, comprising: an I/O surface having one or more I/O devices selected from input devices and output devices; a proximity detection system configured to detect when a finger is in close proximity to but not contacting the I/O surface.
A portable computing device, comprising: a housing; a user interface including one or more I/O devices, each of which is positioned at a surface of the housing; and a proximity detection system configured to detect when an object is in close proximity but not touching the periphery of the portable computing device.
A method performed on a user operated electronic device having a display and a proximity detector, the method comprising: determining if an object is detected in space above the electronic device, monitoring and analyzing the current operating conditions when an object is detected, activating a first GUI element for a first set of operating conditions, and activating a second GUI element for a second set of operating conditions.