Disqus
Apple is crazy about the design… in a good way. I’m sure they hate the holes they need to included in the iPhone design to make space for camera, flash and various sensors. According to the new patent we caught, those holes may not be needed in future iPhones thanks to the use of polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) windows.
The mentioned PDLC window is a layer that is able to change its opacity when electric current is applied. In other words, it can be color matched to the surface of the iPhone with all light emitting and receiving parts hidden behind it. Then, when you fire-up some app, PDLC window becomes transparent to enable camera to work as well as some other capabilities like fingerprint sensors.
Design wise, this would enable designers from Cupertino to create uniform surface devices, which let’s face it, would make them look much better.
But that’s not all with PDLC allowing further feature enhancements. For instance, there could be solar cells on the back of the phone which would only be visible when the Sun shines (and when you don’t carry your iPhone in a case).
Sounds pretty promising to me though unfortunately we’ll have to wait for few more years to see something like this in our smartphones. Can’t wait. 
[Via: Unwired View]
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
