Apple Accelerometer Patents and a Tablet Mac?

Macsimumnews reports on a new patent that appears to be one of Apple's which depicts possible uses for an accelerometer in a Tablet form factor.

The patent application includes diagrams of what appears to be a tablet form-factor screen with use of an accelerometer. Possible uses include:

- detecting movement of a portable device as a way to trigger whether a page of document or image may be displayed
- gaming application to detect a scene change
- in navigation application to navigate a large object or document that can not be displayed entirely at once
- determine whether a device is moving
- movement as password authentication
- and more...

Apple presently uses accelerometers in their PowerBook/MacBook line of computers described as "Sudden Motion Sensor" technology to park the heads of the hard drive if the laptop falls. These new patent descriptions may simply be in relation to research done in developing this technology, however the possibility of a Tablet Mac always draws interest of the Mac community. Apple has long been rumored to be working on a Tablet PC, since the demise of the Apple Newton PDA. Rumors peaked in 2003 with several credible sources pointing to the evidence of a Tablet Mac at that time.