Patent Shows Apple Researching Advanced iPhone Sensor Use, iChat Integration

Over at Mac Rumors they’ve unearthed a recent patent that shows Apple is researching cleverer use of the iPhone’s many sensors. More nifty than turning the screen off when you put it to your ear, the new uses may include things like working out it’s in your pocket (by temperature, proximity and ambient light) and then auto-switching to vibrate mode. Intriguingly, there’s a hint that by detecting you’ve docked the phone, it may pass an ongoing phone call to a VoIP call over iChat. This all makes sense: making best use of those sensors and the iPhone’s power… but like all Apple patents, we may never see these ideas in a real-life software update. [MacRumors]