Ever since the Surface tablet was launched by Microsoft, the company has been busy trying to lock down the best aspect of its product. For those who don't know, the Surface is a tablet from Microsoft that runs on either Windows 8 or Windows 8 RT and has a kickstand and a smart cover. The smart cover is, however, not just any old cover. It outdoes every other cover available, featuring a magnetically attached touch keyboard with a capacitive touch tracker pad.
This cover has turned into something rather iconic for Surface tablets. Microsoft is making sure it stays that way, as it has now obtained patents for both the touch keyboard cover and the magnetic coupling. While Microsoft might be a bit paranoid about its design being stolen, you can't fault the company for trying to secure it as its own, especially as this type of technology is highly desirable to other tablet makers. If you are still in the dark about what the fuss is all about, we would recommend you look back to the original commercial for the tablet.
Do you think that this move by Microsoft is going to stop the development of cover keyboards by other companies due to potential lawsuits? Hopefully, we will see some development in alternative input methods, such as advanced gestures, eye tracking or even laser projected keyboards.
