Apple patents a lot of different things. I expect them to provide some sort of widget-like platform for delivering information to the iPhone or iPad. I suspect they will allow iPhone developers to write to the widget API so people can get an overview of a “Folder”, “App” or “Group” by manipulating a three-dimentional object.

MacRumors.com mentions:

The patent application, entitled “Multidimensional Widgets”, demonstrates Apple’s research into offering Dashboard widgets with multiple sides, allowing users to rotate them in virtual three dimensions to present different data or functionality and reduce visual clutter.

As an example, Apple describes a stock ticker widget where a user can define each side of a three-dimensional widget to contain detailed financial information on a single stock. The widget could adapt in shape to the number of entries made by the user, expanding or contracting based on additions or subtractions.

For example, a three-dimensional widget with four or fewer functions can be of the form of a tetrahedron; a three-dimensional widget with five or six functions can be of the form of a hexahedron; a three-dimensional widget with seven or eight functions can be of the form of a octahedron; and a three-dimensional widget with nine functions can be of the form of a dodecahedron. Thus, if a user specifies ten stock tickers for quotes and technicals, the widget 420 can expand from a hexahedron to a dodecahedron.

Apple also describes a “widget receptacle”, where multiple 3D widgets could be grouped together based on certain criteria and represented on a single larger 3D surface. Upon activation of one of the faces of the receptacle, the corresponding widget would be instantiated on its own.

Original Article: http://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/06/apple-patent-applications-heartbeat-biometrics-multidimensional-dashboard-widgets/

While this sounds really useful and interesting it doesn’t discourage us from developing the DashReady platform any more than other dashboards do. At the end of the day there are lots of different “Dashboard” products out there. Some have been successful and some not. I believe our goal is to create a single platform that could be available from any device — from your phone, to your desktop and ultimately your television that will work in unison. Users will need multiple contexts and need to check-in a couple times a day to get analytics that are relevant to your everyday life.

I am not discounting the 3D Widget dashboard idea. It sounds very futuristic. Instead, I just believe that isn’t really what people want. They just want a quick snapshot of right now that is simple and clear. Think about what people are logging into Twitter and Facebook for. The configuration process needs to be effortless and it needs to be available wherever you are and whatever you are using.