Apple has filed a patent application for a new iPhone feature that also seems to show a much-requested addition to the phone.
Apple fans are already salivating at the prospect of new iPhone models, and the news that the company has filed a patent app for some new iPhone features cannot fail to excite them further.
The application, submitted yesterday, details a motion-sensitive control system for the iPhone. Rather than Wii-like phone waggling or shake-to-shuffle controls a la the iPod, this is a more subtle addition.
Recognising that using your phone on the move can be a bit tricky, Apple has patented a system for increasing the font size and readability of the interface whenever the phone is in motion. Like most of Apple’s flashes of genius this is a simple idea, but one that could make a subtle but genuine difference to the user experience.
The application does contain Just One More Thing, however. On the patent diagram, the iPhone has a front-facing camera.
This is not exactly news in the rest of the mobile phone world, but it is something that Apple has never included in the iPhone because – hey – you don’t need it if your phone can’t do video chat, right?
Does this mean that iPhone v3 will be able to do two-way video (or even one-way video)? We shall see, but combined with the other hints and leaks things are looking more hopeful.
