A patent was published today that shows Apple [AAPL] describing an intelligent bezel on what looks to be a tablet based device. The intelligent bezel has sensors in it that can detect touch allowing functions such as changing the volume to be done with a swipe down the side of the screen.
Although the current Apple iPad makes no mention of this technology, we could be seeing a second generation iPad using the intelligent bezel. As well as being able to control volume, the bezel could also allow menu functions to be accessed. As the bezel surrounds the screen there could be different areas highlighted that take you to the home page and allow you to scroll through menus.
Yesterday we mentioned that Apple could be creating a 15 inch tablet that will function more like Mac OS X rather than a large iPhone and perhaps the intelligent bezel could be making it’s way in to that device although it’s important to understand that just because a patent exists, it doesn’t guarantee it will be used on a device right away.
More details of the patent can be found at Patently Apple who give a run down of the finer points in the patent.
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