MacRumors has uncovered two different Apple patent applications filed in recent weeks. One of the patents focuses on the problem facing users who are engaged in other activities like running or driving a car, where interacting with the iPhone's screen by looking at it to answer the phone or navigate calls interrupts these activities and could be potentially dangerous. Apple's proposed solution is a movement-aware gesture-based interface via which users could perform certain actions without looking at the iPhone's screen, but rather by moving the iPhone through pre-defined movements.

Another patent (corresponding diagram pictured) takes a different approach to this problem by making the iPhone aware that it is moving and in such instances enlarging the size of the contacts / other parts of the interface on the screen, so that users can more easily navigate the device in these instances. Also of note, in the diagrams accompanying the patent there is a small circle above the earpiece at the top middle portion of the iPhone that is labelled 180 with corresponding note that reads: "[0029]The mobile device 100 can also include a camera lens and sensor 180. In some implementations, the camera lens and sensor 180 can be located on the back surface of the mobile device 100. The camera can capture still images and/or video. "

Some people are taking this to mean that the next generation iPhone will have a front-facing camera for video-chat capabilities, although the language has enough "and/or" and "in some implementations" where it could simply be Apple covering all its bases in the patent filing and no real indicator of such future functionality. 

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