You could probably fill a book with Apple patent applications that never amounted to anything, but here’s one that’s at least been granted — a “handheld device” that uses capacitive sensors to recognize your identity just by the way you hold it , and subsequently personalize the device’s buttons and settings to your hand based on your user profile. That’s all that’s actually been patented here, but the general idea is a little more grand — you could theoretically grip a handheld with either hand, and it would automatically generate “button zones” under each finger using sensors (or disappearing buttons , perhaps) baked right into the chassis, making cries of “you’re holding it wrong” hopefully fade into obscurity. Still, it’s not the first time we’ve seen Cupertino reaching for digit recognition and we’re sure it won’t be the last, so we’ll just file away our enthusiasm until or unless Jobs announces it on stage. Apple granted patent for handheld that recognizes your hands originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Sep 2010 05:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink