Apple has filed a new patent that hints at something really geeky on the hardware front. This technology allows the user to swipe his finger over the camera lens to perform actions. This would let one make better use of the iPhone with a more empowered one handed operations. Scrolling, initiating actions etc using the index finger reaching out to the camera is quite an innovative idea. The patent lists single and double tap on the camera lens as a gesture aswell.
Another handy use of this comes while speaking in the iPhone when the screen cannot be used. Like while listening to voicemails you can just forward or rewind using these swipes.
A lot of things can happen with this concept, but having the camera sensing images for motion sensing would mean a battery drain? Or Apple has other ways of tackling that? Given the fact that this patent was actually filed in 2008 originally, this can be a surprise addon to the upcoming iPhone 4G.
