18 
Apple’s always publishing patents, but here’s one that sounds rather fun: imagine an iPhone or iPad with a flexible display that has speakers built in to it, to provide surround sound.
The patent describes a flexible display with all manner of built-in features:
a tactile keyboard, laser mics and speakers. Much of this is made possible by the idea of a flexible display—which is some way off but by no means impossible to achieve. Once you can manage that, according to this patent, the world’s your oysters.
For instance, shove an array of transducers behind the screen and you turn the whole thing into a giant speaker, which would go some way to sounding like a proper set of speakers. Vibration may be a problem, but that might be tolerable compared to the tinny sound you squeeze out of most mobile and tablet speakers. Unlikely to exist any time soon, of course, but we can dream. [Unwired View via TechCrunch]
The Last Thing a Kitchen Scale Needs Is a Built-In Video Display
Nokia Lumia 920: Now With Built-In Gifs
Smartphone-Controlled Toilet Includes Built-in Speakers So You Can Listen to Music, Costs Nearly £3,000
“to provide surround sound.” – how do you provide surround sound from only 1 location?
same way as with soundbars…. badly
i love how apple can patent things that dont exist. when did this become possible? didnt you used to have to build something first?
patenting a future idea they cant build is just BS and stops people actually making things.
No, patenting things that don’t exist has always been possible, there are patents for all kinds of things. UFO’s, time machines, there are some weird ones out there.
It allows you to take your idea to a manufacturer and get prototypes built if you don’t have the skills without the risk of it being stolen.
Depending on their positions I’m sure they’d be able to create some sort of virtual surround sound. Not quite the same though.
A flexible screen? Aren’t all screens flexible to a certain degree? As for the speaker screen, the idea has been around for a decade but never seems to work very well. They’re also going to have to tiptoe carefully around a lot of the patents that NXT have for the technology.
They patented this? Oh here we go again – I remember NXT speaker tech was going to be used like this FIFTEEN fracking years ago…..
why cant they just put two speakers at the bottom? at different sides of the display. Stereo would be very welcome on the iRange.
Stereo speakers a couple of inches away from each other? What’s the point?
It sounds better!? But more for the iPad, 2 speakers in landscape, so you could watch a movie or tv show with stereo audio without headphones, they would be a good 8 inches away from each other.
It’s not a dream. This technology is already been invented and tested, being brought onto the market at the moment:
http://www.warwickaudiotech.com/
Ipad is really for people like me… 1st i have iPad and know i am useing iPad 3. I do Man and van Hire work in london… I move people house flat room move i work as movers… Ipad is really keep me intouch with my email.. Help me to every day to use London map on Google … i use ipad 3 with 3g sim.
http://www.manwithvanhire.com