Apple Patents The Smart Bezel - Might Forever Change How You Use Your iPhone
April 7, 2011
Steve Jobs gave Apple's engineers quite a challenge when first designing the iPhone. The challenge was for the iPhone to have only a single button. They protested, again and again. Yet, the iPhone was finally brought to market as we know it today. However, as the platforms develops, and our iOS devices have replaced everything from our PSPs to our cameras, it might be time to give up on that limitation, but without compromising the original idea.
Or, at least that's what we're hearing from Patently Apple who spotted an interesting Apple filing. The idea is to make the iPhone bezel able to activate all sorts of controls, and to adapt its use to various applications. For example, imagine launching a music player, and having your bezel transform to display media controls. Alternatively, we could also imagine gaming buttons.
Of course, this is just an idea at this point. There is no way to know if this will ever make it into an actual product. Yet, it's not the first time we're hearing about this concept.
Revolutionary or fail? Tell us what you think in the comments.
