Recently surfaced patents are lending new credence to rumors of a waterproof iPhone.
The latest patent, granted this month by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to Apple Inc., is for tools to edit digital images taken underwater, specifically “to remove undesirable tints from objects” in such photos.
The patent, first reported on by Patently Apple, explains:
“Removing undesirable tints without removing the tint of the water itself results in images with more realistic coloring of people and objects in the scene without eliminating the color cues (e.g., blue water) that indicate that the image is a photograph of an underwater scene.”
This technology could operate on mobile devices such as a smartphone like the iPhone or a tablet computer like the iPad, according to the patent.
This news comes two months after Apple was granted a patent for liquid-resistant speaker and microphone modules.
According to this patent, the speaker module could be incorporated into any device that includes such a feature, including a laptop computer, desktop computer, mobile computer, tablet computer, cellular telephone, smartphone, digital media player or wearable device.
CNN Money demonstrated in the fall that the iPhone 6S — part of the current iPhone generation — has fleeting water-resistance.
The smartphone continued to operate while submerged in a vase of water for five minutes, CNN reported:
But within seconds of taking a dip in the water, air bubbles began streaming up from the iPhone, suggesting that water was collecting inside the device. A minute into the test, water began distorting the bottom of the screen.
The phone continued to work for about 10 minutes after its swim as well, although the headphones did not play music “because it thought that headphones were plugged into the jack — possibly because the headphone port was waterlogged.”
But the iPhone 7, anticipated this fall, is expected not to have a headphone jack, according to 9to5Mac.
Until the new iPhone is unveiled, you might want to check out “Do You Know How to Insure Your Smartphone?”
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