Apple patent bid hints at changeable iPhone lens

Jun 15, 2012
More American adults now own smartphones than basic mobile phones, according to a recent survey Enlarge
A US patent application made public on Thursday hinted that Apple may be toying with the idea of letting picture-loving iPhone users change lenses for the smartphone cameras.

A US patent application made public on Thursday hinted that Apple may be toying with the idea of letting picture-loving iPhone users change lenses for the smartphone cameras.

Apple's application for a "back panel for a portable electronic device with different camera lens options" included a diagram reminiscent of an opened with labeled parts.

The application described a design to let users change lenses that typically are fixed in the backs of smartphones to act as eyes for cameras.

"It would be desirable to provide a structure for a compact device that allows the end user to reconfigure the optical arrangement of the device while retaining the benefits of assembling the device using a pre-assembled digital imaging subsystem," said a copy of the patent application available online.

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kevinrtrs
2.3 / 5 (4) Jun 15, 2012
Strange, as a shareholder I think this idea should not be allowed to be patented. Interchangeable lens cameras have existed since forever and if this is simply a copy of such devices then its whole intention is to stifle competition in which case it should really be thrown out as not deserving of a patent. There's multiple indicators that really high class cameras and telephones are a marriage made in heaven and that's where things are going towards in the industry. So this patent really doesn't rhyme well with open competition in that arena.
Noumenon
1 / 5 (2) Jun 15, 2012
It may just be for the method of changing lenses and not the idea of changing lenses,... I would think that would be too general also.

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