Samsung has a similar menu on their phones, released after the original Apple patent

Sep 2, 2014 14:39 GMT  ·  By
We know Samsung has the habit of "borrowing" design and ideas from Apple, but did you know the radial menu they have released a year ago is based on an Apple patent, too?
 
Initially, Apple filed for a patent in Europe and Korea for such a menu for their Mac products. Now, the Cupertino, California-based tech giant has been granted a new patent in the United States. The US Patent and Patent Office approved Apple's documentation for a Moving Radial Menu for Macs and iDevices. 
 
The Menu looks just as you might expect. Just click on the desktop and you will see a Menu button with five or six different items that go all around it. 
 
According to PatentlyApple, Apple got their first patent of invention for this UI idea back in 2012. This would have replaced the classical vertical drop down menu (right click menu) that we all use on our computers. On OS X, Linear pull-down menus are often located on the top left area of the screen, opposite to the Dock or where your cursor may be on an app window. This may make it cumbersome to use, especially on a large display. 
 
Apple presented a solution for a menu known as "hunt and click." The tech giant covers multiple use cases for this type of menu. For example, this can move with your mouse pointer, you can select and activate it with sweep commands and get spring-loaded commands. 
 
Interesting enough, Samsung released their smartphone in September of 2013 with a menu that copied Apple's UI. They call it Air Command and it appears on the screen when you hold the S pen above it and press the built-in button. 
 
Apple's second patent granted today expands the first one to mobile devices. Of course, Apple's iDevices do not have an S pen-like stylus so their implementation, if they ever choose to use it in a smartphone or tablet, will have to rely only on the user's finger. Apple engineers describe the menu as one that shows up in a smaller size and then increasing to a normal size.
 
Apple has a similar looking menu in iOS 8 in the messages app. When you are recording a video, you can tap the record button and you will see an option to dismiss what you just got or send it to a friend. The same idea can be used with an audio recording that could be sent as voice mail. 

Samsung steals again? (5 Images)

iOS 8 messages app
Samsung's Air CommandApple's Patent filed in 2012
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