Apple patent app describes ‘always-on’ iPhone status indicators
Thursday, November 20, 2008 - 01:53 PM EST "Apple has conceptualized a means of displaying icon-like status indicators on the iPhone's displays even when the handset is locked and the backlight turned off, a new company filing shows," Slash Lane reports for AppleInsider."The Cupertino-based electronics maker notes that a traditional way of conserving energy on handheld devices is to turn off a display when the user does not need or want to view media. However, this approach may make it difficult or impossible for a user to determine the status of the device or identify any pending notifications without first having to turn the unit on," Lane reports.
"To address the problem, Apple proposes the implementation of a dual backlight system, where a secondary, low-power backlight system would be positioned behind the primary backlight system. The always-on light provided by the secondary backlight system could then be projected through one or more transparent or semitransparent regions of the primary backlight system to reach the display even when the primary backlight is turned off," Lane reports.
More in the full article, including Apple's patent application illustrations, here.


no thanks, battery drains too fast already.