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"It's pretty rare that Apple patent applications reveal much more than vague plans and ideas about future devices, but a newly-public filing out of Cupertino just comes right out and states the truth about gaming on touchscreen devices like the iPhone: it can be \"somewhat awkward, particularly on a portable electronic device having a touchscreen\" because the \"user's fingers block the action.\" So what's the solution? Buttons, dude-man. The patent describes a handheld gaming dock that fits around a \"substantial portion\" of an iPhone or iPod that has both physical input controls and secondary storage for game information like scores and save data. That's certainly a nice idea, and one we'd love to see supported by Apple, but we're also pretty certain this patent doesn't have much of a chance as written, since we've been hearing about this concept since games first hit the App Store and similar products -- including a keyboard -- are on the market now. We'll see -- like so many of Apple's patent applications, this one might well just linger on the vine forever."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/03/apple-patent-application-shocker-games-need-buttons/>