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iPhone 4 - Seams = Touch Sensors | Physical buttons for mute and camera

Nipz said:
My view is its an LED.

Don't no why apple would care for shock aborbance! (sorry about spelling)
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Maybe every single time Apple dropped their prototype, the screen shattered. We can't have that happening out in the wild. Everyone has dropped their iPhone at least once. I have dropped mine about 3 times, but luckily everything was fine. Now, if everyone drops their phone at least once and that one time it shatters, many people are going to be pissed.
 
I know this has been beaten to death, but really, IR and UV everywhere? Give me a break.
 
Nipz said:
My view is its an LED.

Don't no why apple would care for shock aborbance! (sorry about spelling)
Click to expand...

Please take some time to look at the internal images of the case component.
It clearly is not an LED.

If you look at the iPad - you'll see a black seam running around the edge of the screen, filled with a black rubbery material, designed to cushion the glass screen.

The 4th Generation iPhone is the first phone made entirely of glass and metal - and as such would be incredibly rigid, and inflexible. Which in turn would make it fragile if dropped. The addition of energy absorbing material would make the device much more robust if dropped.

C.
 
It can't be a shock absorber. Think about how a shock absorber works... it absorbs energy before it can be transferred into more fragile materials, in this case the glass panels.

The glass goes all the way to the edge of the phone, so the only time that a shock absorber would actually absorb any energy is when the phone drops onto a surface and does not touch any of the edges of the glass. How likely is this to happen?

They are just seams - get over it.
 
THE SEAMS ARE FOR EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION!

The iPhone 4/HD does not attach to the bezel the same way that other iPhones and the iPad attach. Since the front and back are made of glass/ceramic, they expand and contract at a different rate than aluminum.
 
Gjeepguy said:
THE SEAMS ARE FOR EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION!

The iPhone 4/HD does not attach to the bezel the same way that other iPhones and the iPad attach. Since the front and back are made of glass/ceramic, they expand and contract at a different rate than aluminum.
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You might be right. Glass has a CTE of 4-9, Alumium ~24. The current iPhones have non-operating conditions of -20degC to 45degC.

Assuming the phone has been manufactured at approximately 20degC, this means that the maximum temperature change is 40deg.

A 40deg change in temperature results in a contraction of the glass (assuming CTE=4) of approximately 0.016mm, and approximately 0.096mm for the aluminium case. So that could be enough to cause the glass to crack if it's hard mounted onto the aluminium case.

On the other hand, I can't imagine Apple hard-mounting the glass onto the aluminium. Surely they'd be using some sort of adhesive, which compensates for the differences in thermal expansion.
 
VforVelveta said:
If the two bottom seams are sensors that open the camera, they'll have to change the position of the disembodied hand in the current iPhone commercials, otherwise it'd be kinda a weird commercial.

"Say you want to check out some local restaurants, too bad, because your camera keeps opening."
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I personally think the new iPhone ads will mock the new iPad ad. You know, using then phone out in the REAL world.

ipedro said:
LMAO @ "world's most expensive pond skimmer"! :D

I've anticipated that in my theory above. Note that I suggest that the sensors work in conjunction with an actual button press. While holding the phone like a camera, you're covering the sensor or sensors on the sides. Actually pressing one of the buttons will "open the app".
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What if I hold my phone "like a camera" but don't want to take a picture? Watching video is one example. So I want to watch the series finale of LOST. Opps I can't becuase of the stupid camera.

I would also suggest that the sensors will speed up the availability of the app by indicating your intention to use the camera. Holding the phone like a camera would open up the app in the background and make the camera available but not in use in the foreground. Pressing the shutter button would make the camera instantly ready for use. Pressing again would activate the shutter and take a picture.
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As I said what if you don't want to use the camera?


ipedro said:
I agree, this has to be intuitive. I'm in the camp that thinks that double clicking the Home button to activate the multi tasking bar in OS 4.0 is not intuitive.
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there may be an option for that like there is now with "ipod" "home 1 " and "search"

That said, I was explaining the technical details which may come across as complex. These would be invisible to the user. Usage would be simple:

1- You could still open the camera App by touching its icon in the home screen.
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Thats what most people will be doing.

2- Using the sensors would be a shortcut. However, it would also be intuitive. So intuitive in fact, that you wouldn't have to know you're using it. Just by holding the phone like a camera, you're going to cover the sensors and activate the app in the background as per my theory. A simple push of the shutter button would instantly make the camera available.
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Dude. Give it up. Enough of the "holding the phone like a camera" Watching video is like "holding the phone like a camera" so this will not work.

Fireproof! said:
WHAT IF - they are for LED visual notification of some sort? Like the slit in the front of the MacBooks.
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May be. I'm thinking more so with the home button. Perhaps a nice white LED.

ipedro said:
I've lost count of how many times I've handed my phone to somebody to take a photo and they hand it back showing me the Home screen... They used the home button to snap the photo. This method would transform a very common error into a natural way to shoot photos.
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or they don't know how to use a freakn phone.

ipedro said:
When in your pocket, the phone's proximity and ambient light sensors cancel the input on these new "seam sensors".
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Have you even had a pockit before?
 
This is a really cool theory. I don't know if in the end it will be true or not, but I thought I'd throw my two cents in. What if instead of an IR, UV, Proxy or any other light sensor, these seems functioned more like the existing technology in an iPod click wheel. Quoted from HowStuffWorks:

"At its most basic, a capacitive-sensing system works like this: The system controller supplies an electrical current to the grid. The metal channels that form the grid are conductors -- they conduct electricity. When another conductor -- say, your finger -- gets close to the grid, the current wants to flow to your finger to complete the circuit. But there's a piece of nonconductive plastic in the way -- the Click Wheel cover. So the charge builds up at the point of the grid that's closest to your finger. This build-up of an electrical charge between two conductors is called capacitance. The closer the two conductors are without touching, the greater the capacitance."

Perhaps they would work more like the description above? You touch one or more of these spots with your finger to complete the curcuit and activate the intended function. Granted, it poses some of the same potential problems as the light sensor theories, but at least you eliminate the need for light all together and it shouldn't be a horribly power draining system.
 
Gjeepguy said:
THE SEAMS ARE FOR EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION!

The iPhone 4/HD does not attach to the bezel the same way that other iPhones and the iPad attach. Since the front and back are made of glass/ceramic, they expand and contract at a different rate than aluminum.
Click to expand...

:p
 
UngratefulNinja said:
I wanna hear from the guy on here that was INSISTENT that the seams were going to be some kind of touch sensitive something.
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I wasn't insistent on anything. Insistent were the guys who sweared by their unborn grand children that the seams were shock absorbers.

This was my theory. It was interesting to share it.

I guess you get some right and miss others. ;)
 
I thought about antenna being the answer, but I thought a better chance was the heart rate monitor idea.
 
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