The iPhone X lets you unlock your device without even touching it. Now, it seems Apple may be working on a way to let you actually use your phone without touching it either.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is working on “touchless gesture control” which would allow iPhone users to “perform some tasks by moving their finger close to the screen without actually tapping it.” Think of how many styluses allow you to hover over your screen without touching anything, for instance.
Granted, this would be far from the first time we’ve seen touchless gesture controls – remember Google’s Project Soli? and considering you’ll still need to hold your phone to use it most of the time, I assume this isn’t intended be a primary way of interacting with the device. Instead, it could be used for actions you typically can’t do on a smartphone (hovering over website menus comes to mind). Knowing Apple, the company likely has some wacky ideas up its sleeves too.
Bloomberg also claims Apple is considering a curved OLED display for a future phone. But unlike Samsung’s recent phones, which curve on the side edges, the new iPhone would curve from top to bottom.
That also wouldn’t be an Apple first through; Samsung and Google’s Galaxy Nexus had a slight banana shape. LG’s G Flex series took it to another level, with a phone with a stronger curve that could actually bend under pressure to prevent breaking. The curved shape also makes it easier to reach the top of the phone in handheld use.
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In any case, we wouldn’t see these features for quite some time – if they ever come to fruition. Both features are in the R&D stage, and likely wouldn’t show up for at least another couple of years.
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