Apple Hiring for Advanced Multi-touch Displays

A new job description posted by Apple on Monday, May 12th reveals that Apple is seeking an engineer to "lead the engineering activities to develop the new process and design for the multi-touch panel used in Apple products. This individual will serve as a focal point in the designing and the process development of advanced multi-touch panels from the concept to the product ramp."

Responsibilities include designing and developing new multi-touch panels for high volume production, and the candidate should have experience in the flat panel industry. Another job description reveals that some of these hires are entering into a newly created "Panel Process & Optics Group" at Apple which is responsible for future flat panel designs.

While the fruits of these specific employees' efforts won't likely be seen for years, it has been well established that Apple has long been been working on advanced multi-touch displays. Based on this job description and previous patent applications, it is clear that Apple's intentions are beyond the multi-touch display that currently resides on the iPhone and iPod touch. Advanced multi-touch gesturing patents have shown Apple's efforts to incorporate new gestures into Mac OS X itself. Simple multi-touch has already made its way into the trackpad of the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.

Apple has also been rumored to be working on a mini-tablet project which may incorporate more advanced multi-touch recognition over the existing iPhone and iPod touch.