One of those rumors that just won't seem to die is the one about Apple producing a tablet computer. Many of us believe that when the Apple tablet finally breaks cover the thing will be something along the lines of a larger iPhone. A new patent app has turned up today that shows Apple has input methods other than multi touch in mind.

The patent app covers a system for pen-based input to a tablet computer that breaks down strokes and phrases. That is fancy talk for recognizing handwriting with digital ink. I would be surprised if multi touch wasn't a prominent feature in any Apple tablet that was introduced.

The patent application reads in part: "Upon the occurrence of an ink phrase termination event, the ink manager notifies the handwriting recognition engine and organizes the preceding ink strokes into an ink phrase data structure...The present invention, in large part, relates to the observation that client applications and handwriting recognition software in pen-based computer systems can make far more accurate ink-related decisions based on entire ink phrases, rather than individual ink strokes."