Apple has been teasing us with loads of new patents recently and in many cases these tit-bits of information gives us a detailed indication of some of the thinking over at Apple HQ.
And today is no different, with their latest patent application showing what is being dubbed as a smart bezel, what it is a essentially is a second screen, allowing them to show a second set of indicators over the top of the normal screen.
But most importantly the indicators, buttons or controls would be next to the screen rather than on the screen, factor in a bigger screen for the iPhone 5 and you a something that has got us really excited
Apple intends to use the secondary display to introduce a set of new illuminated indicators that are able morph into various controls for work and play.
Even more interesting they could use the gyro-scope to allow the indicator to show up on when the phone is in a certain position, so when a user holds it in a way when they are gaming.
As you can imagine this is some exciting news for gamers and just about any other device requires controls to be place onto the screen, but with patent you would have them on the bezel leaving the screen to be watched.
Apple’s patent covers systems and methods for selectively illuminating a secondary display. An electronic device could include a primary display (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen) and a secondary display (e.g., a printed segmented electroluminescence display).
The primary display could be used to convey visual content to a user, and the secondary display could be used to guide a user providing inputs to the device.
We heard of rumours before where Apple were considering getting rid of the homescreen button and now we've got a reallygood idea of what they might use to replace it.
There's no word on whether we might actually ever see this tech, as with all patents, they need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
This patent doesn’t mention anything about the iPad, but what gets rolled out on the iPhone generally finds its way on to the iPad in due course
What do think of the idea of having a secondary screen overlayed on top the current design, would this make the iPhone 5 a more desirable gaming device?
Let us know below.