Smart Bezel Could Be The Big, New “Mystery Feature” For the iPhone 5

Apple's patent for the so-called "Smart Bezel." Will it end up on the iPhone 5?

As the tech community endlessly prognosticates on the next big features for the iPhone 5, there’s no doubt that Apple  has kept some of the best bits hidden from the public. But could the recent exposé on Apple’s Smart Bezel patent be the mind-blowing feature that makes the iPhone 5 the smartphone of the year?
Bigger screen. 8 megapixel camera. iOS 5. NFC technology, The A5 chip. Most if not all of these predicted new features for the iPhone 5 are improvements rather than innovations — even NFC technology has already been tried on the Droid platform.
Where’s the magic? Where’s the defining feature for the iPhone 5 that will launch it into greatness? With the iPhone 4, we saw the advent of the front-facing camera, which gave smartphone users a next-generation way of communicating on the go. How will the iPhone 5 deliver a similarly siezmic breakthrough?
Enter Apple’s Smart Bezel.
All this week, tech websites have been parsing a curious Apple patent that reveals plans to develop and deploy a dynamic, gesture-controlled bezel around the iPhone 5‘s screen, giving users a secondary means of navigating games and applications. Fast Company I think has summed up the technological aspect of the Smart Bezel patent the best, explaining that:
“The display relies on printed, segmented electroluminescent units (or similar tech) that would be hidden when not activated. These units would display additional info when needed–we’re thinking games controls, an improvement to the awful messaging/alert system iOS uses, and display-wasting info like battery life bars or a clock.”

                                                                  Just as the old Atari
                                                              joystick gave way to the
                                                      advanced game controls of today,
                                                   so too will smartphones like the iPhone
                                                        5 feature more gesture control.


To be sure, the Smart Bezel would be a bona fide breakthrough in technology, should it deliver on its promise of significantly expanding the gesture control and display layout of the iPhone 5. It’s true that other extended touch surface concepts exist on current smartphones, such as the Palm Pre, but if Apple can push the exvelope with this new innovation, it could revolutionize the way that iPhone users interact with their iPhone; not just an improvement on what already exists, but a true innovation that would send the other smartphone designers into catch-up mode..

And from a more practical standpoint, the Smart Bezel would also give the iPhone 5 an effective alternative to the cumbersome home button, which many believe will be moved or replaced in one way or another.
The idea of the Smart Bezel has been kicking around for some time now. For the most part, the idea of adding more gesture control was initially being ascribed to the iPad 2. Many analysts foresee that tablets and smartphones will continue to feature more and more gesture control features apart from the touch screen itself. Much in the way that the simple Atari joystick of yesteryear has advanced to the complex array of buttons, joysticks, sliders, and gesture control, so too will the chassis of the next generation of smartphones and tablets include bezels, backs, and other interesting nooks and crannies that will give users new vistas of control over their mobile computing experience.
How exciting is it to imagine that it all might begin with the iPhone 5‘s Smart Bezel?



What Exactly is a “Bezel,” and How Can It Be “Smart?”

                                                         An example of a chrome bezel from
                                                            an iPhone 3G. Could the bezel
                                                       on the iPhone 5 be a "Smart Bezel?"

I’ve had several comments stating that folks still don’t understand exactly what the bezel of an iPhone is, and what exactly it would mean for it to be “smart.” To use Wikipedia’s definition, a bezel is “a band of metal containing a groove and a flange (i.e. projecting lip) holding a watch crystal or gemstone in its setting.” Traditionally, bezels have been used primarily in jewelry, however, Apple ascribes the term for the chrome rim that surrounds the iPhone’s touch screen.
To date, this bezel has been little more than a cosmetic feature of the iPhone, as well as a means of securing the touch screen. The idea behind a “Smart Bezel” will be to make it touch sensitive so that iPhone users will be able to control the functions of apps and games. Imagine being able to run your fingers up and down the chrome bezel of your iPhone to control volume, scroll, pan, and control other aspects of your mobile computing experience. The other reason why the Smart Bezel is an innovative idea is that it would allow users to play games and use apps without their fingers having to conceal the touch screen when gesturing. By having gesture control available on the bezel, you could keep the touch screen in full view at all times without having to block the screen with your finger.
Some have suggested that the inclusion of a Smart Bezel would mean that the edge-to-edge screen design would probably not materialize for the iPhone 5. That’s probably true. So, the question then becomes: what would you rather have — more gesture control or an edge-to-edge touch screen?

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Dueling iPhone 5 Release Rumors; It’s Like Daisy Petal Picking

It’s coming in June; it’s coming in June – not; it’s coming in…..
Appleinsider’s Neil Hughes says that rumors of a later-than-usual iPhone model revision for 2011 are being fueled by notoriously secretive Apple being even more secretive than usual in its dealings with overseas suppliers subcontracting to build the devices and their various components as regards the iPhone 5.
Hughes cites a note to investors by Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White, who is on a tech company visit sweep through Taiwan and China, commenting last Friday that “Apple is keeping its iPhone 5 cards extra close to the vest on this launch to avoid a falloff in iPhone 4 demand ahead of a refresh, especially given the February launch of the CDMA iPhone 4 with Verizon.” However, White guesses there’s still room for the iPhone 5 to still launch in June or July, consistent with Apple’s usual calendar envelope for major iPhone announcements and revisions, and noting that there’s really no solid evidence supporting either that postulate or a later iPhone 5 release in the fall.
TheStreet’s James Rogers agrees with White, suggesting that with iPhone 5 rumors “ping-ponging” back and forth, the chatter, and in some instance angst, over a significant iPhone 5 release delay may be getting overblown.
On the other hand, Rogers notes — as I too have here previously — that Apple’s press release for the June Worldwide Developers’ Conference (WWDC), which in recent years has been a venue for iPhone revision announcements, made no reference to new hardware, a seemingly pointed omission, and affirmed instead that this year’s WWDC will be focused on unveiling the future of iOS and Mac OS. Of course, we can’t discount the possibility of a Steve Jobsian “one more thing” surprise announcement of the iPhone 5 at the keynote climax, whether or not the ailing (and we hope mending) Mr. Jobs is there to deliver it.
My takeaway is that while Apple’s new and revised product releases are at least roughly predictable more often than not, attempting to pin them down to a precise time frame is a mug’s game and an exercise in frustration and futility, compounded by the fact that from the moment the iPhone 5 (launch of which is inevitable at some point in the not too distant future) is announced, new speculation will ramp up focusing on iPhone 6. Indeed, the iPad 2 announcement was still weeks in the future when prognostications about an iPhone 3 began circulating.
Waiting out anticipated product announcements can be frustrating, or part of the fun, depending on how you choose to look at it, but the upside is that current iPhone 4 is an excellent device that will do a fine job for you if you really need to make a purchase in the short term.

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