iPad swaps mute switch for screen lock
Jim Dalrymple at The Loop spotted a small but important change to the iPad’s hardware functionality: the switch previously set for mute has been changed to a screen lock. Seems trivial, but I suspect this will soon become a standard feature for any tablet with accelerometer-based screen rotation.
I like accelerometer-based screen rotation a lot. It’s great on my iPhone and, when it works, on my Tablet PC. Manually switching between screen orientations is antiquated by comparison. However, while I have it set to automatic on my iPhone, I don’t do the same for my Tablet PC. A larger two-handed device is simply not as easy to maneuver as a one-handed device. I tend to tilt and angle it on a regular basis. If I were to hand it to someone else to show them something, well, that would result in all sorts of flipping chaos. As a result, I keep accelerometer-based screen rotation set to manual trigger on my tablet via button or ritePen ink macro.
A toggle, however, to turn automatic screen rotation on and off sounds like a much better solution. I would be impressed except now that I think about it, it really should already have been a common tablet feature.
Via AppleInsider
Category: Mobile
About the Author (Author Profile)
My name is Mark Sumimoto; I am Sumocat. I dabble in all areas of mobile computing, but my focus is Windows-based Tablet PCs and pen input. They’ve been part of my arsenal since 2004, and I’m proud to have pioneered the field of ink blogging, earning a spot as a Microsoft MVP for Touch and Tablets in the process. My current tools include a Fujitsu Lifebook T900, TEGA v2, and iPhone 4. Email me: sumocat [at] notebooks.com- Gavin Miller
