TechKnow: Apple Rumor

New iPad Design Could Bring a Landscape Dock Port And Smart Bezel Feature

Patently Apple has found new iPad design patents from China that show an extra 30-pin dock connector port that'll allow for landscape docking and a mysterious feature which may be Apple's "Smart Bezel Feature".

If this new design is real, it makes some sense (at least, more sense than a 7-inch iPad). Having the option to dock the iPad in landscape mode would double the convenience for iPad owners who, well, frequently dock their iPad.

The Smart Bezel Feature is very interesting but we don't know what it'll do. Does it act like a button or is it more of a gesture area? The previous patent suggest a broad gesture area but putting it onto only the bottom left corner of the iPad makes it seem a little more limited in scope. [Patently Apple]

Another day, another Apple leak. This time it's an eBay double whammy of the camera-donning iPod touch, which appears to be of the same design from August but now with iPod branding on the back. Furthermore, the two devices bear the prototype identification codes "DVT-1" and "DVT-2" ("DVT" stands for "design verification test" in Apple-speak, according to Daring Fireball), while the DVT-2 model wears an extra bar code label seemingly stamped by the "Apple Development Team." We tried to verify using the FCC ID "BCGA1318" at the bottom, only to be let down by a kaput FCC database -- we'll give it another spin later. Unsurprisingly, the eBay listing was quickly taken down, but it's not like any mere mortal could've gotten much use out of that Transformer-themed (and familiar-looking) "SwitchBoard" test-bed software -- maybe it was a displeased Michael Bay who killed the auction. A couple of backside shots after the break.

[Thanks, Sam]

9to5Mac

For this week's Photoshop Contest, I asked you to design some dream iPad apps. Some of these are legit and feasible, others are pipe dreams and the rest are flat-out insane.
First Place — Daniel Simon

Second Place — Benjamin VanderVeen (Original night sky pic by Dominic Kamp)

Third Place — Jack Martin

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