On March 27, 2014, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals an all-new iPad smart cover configuration that includes a keyboard panel. One of the aspects of this design which differentiates itself from Microsoft’s Surface tablet cover is that Apple’s keyboard has been uniquely designed to double as a multi-touch gesture keyboard eliminating the need for a touchpad.

A user may provide input to iPad by striking the smooth surface overlay above a particular key and provide input to the iPad by sliding gestures.

In order for the keyboard to receive touch input, the keyboard may be configured to detect the location of one or more touches or near touches at the surface of the keys based on measurements of physical phenomena that occur near the surface when those touches or near touches occur.

This is a patent, not a product design, so the implementation details will obviously evolve from what’s laid out in the patent drawings. But I like the premise, the idea that you can gesture on the surface of the keyboard itself.