http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovat...ex.html?hpt=T2
Apple may be developing a computer that combines the look of a desktop with the touch-screen functions of its tablet-style iPad, according to reports about a patent filed by the company.
Patently Apple, a blog that focuses on patents filed by Apple as a way of speculating about future products, unveiled a European patent and images late Monday under the headline, "The Mother Lode: Welcome to the iMac Touch."
Images from the patent show a computer monitor mounted on a swivel base that allows it to be rotated to a horizontal position, letting people use it as a touchscreen.
"Imagine having an iMac on your desktop one minute and a gigantic iPad the next," the blog's post reads.
The patent also outlines how Apple would switch from the iMac's current operating system, OS X, to iOS -- the system that runs the iPad and iPhones, according to the blog.