This amazing new discovery just caught our eye. Look at what has been uncovered at the United States Patent & Trademark Office’s database. Apple has put forward a new patent for a Smart Bezel that would also function as a secondary display that will be made around a printed and segmented electroluminescence technology.
What does this mean? We might get a touch-sensitive bezel around future iOS devices which will sport illuminated controls for most used features such as gaming controls and media buttons. A virtual gamepad or scrolling controls are also plausible.
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. Illuminated gaming and productivity controls could be built into the face-side of the bezel and/or selected back-side areas of iOS devices like the iPad
The patent also states that the secondary display may be "selectively illuminated to provide one or more indicators that represented where or how a user can provide inputs to the device"
While we're a long way from seeing the implementation of this, Smart Bezel definitely looks promising. What are the bets that Apple puts this in the iPhone 5? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.