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Apple iPhone 7 Rumors & Release Date: Patent Reveals Device's Virtual Keyboard & Camera Accessory for Angled Camera Viewing

On Thursday, a patent granted to Cupertino-based Apple by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office showed that the company is planning to integrate a never-before-seen technology to its next-generation smartphone, the iPhone 7.  The document which can be viewed online reveals that iPhone 7 will feature a "virtual keyboard," a report from iDigital Times said.

According to the report, Apple's new invention called Camera Accessory for Angled Camera Viewing, will allow iPhone 7, an iPad Pro or any device "to use a series of reflectors to allow for a camera mounted inside the device to receive light indirectly."

"An electronic device may have front and rear surfaces. A front-facing camera may be formed on the front surface and a rear-facing camera may be formed on the rear surface. A display may be mounted on the front face of the electronic device. The cameras may nominally point along axes that run parallel to surface normals for the front and rear surfaces," reads an abstract of Apple's Camera Accessory for Angled Camera Viewing technology.

"A removable camera accessory with reflector structures may be mounted over a camera to deflect light and thereby point the camera in an off-axis direction. The removable camera accessory may be supported in a stand or other support structure. Magnetic structures and other structures may be used in coupling the electronic device to the support structures and may be used in coupling the camera accessory to the electronic device," the patent document said which was filed on Oct. 6, 2015.

Apple Insider reports that this is not the first time that Apple was awarded with a patent that is related to a virtual keyboard. In fact, earlier this year, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted the company the U.S. Patent 8,959,013. It was said that the patent, "Virtual Keyboard for a Non-Tactile Three Dimensional User Interface," is another virtual keyboard invention that allows Apple users to type on air.

"While the reason behind Apple's acquisition of PrimeSense remains unknown, the Cupertino company was awarded a PrimeSense patent describing 3D camera system allowing for an entirely new type of virtual keyboard," the report said.


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