Future iPhones and iPods could become easier to use when in motion, an Apple patent application suggests. The filing, newly published on Thursday, depicts a compensation system that adjusts onscreen images with relative positioning. Using technology such as an iPhone's accelerometer for instance, the system could detect movement along one or more axes, and shift icons to keep them in their original place. As a handheld approaches or recedes from a user, the technology could also be used to selectively scale graphics to keep them legible.

Apple proposes using the system to make handhelds more practical in vehicles, such as cars or subways. It could similarly compensate for vibrations caused by industrial machinery, or just the motion of a person's hands. Without adjustment, Apple notes, it can be easy to hit the wrong region of a screen when trying to use touch commands. Recognized selection areas would shift alongside their respective images.

The company has meanwhile filed for a miniaturization patent, titled Embedded die system and method. The scheme involves embedding a die into a substrate cavity, significantly saving on vertical and/or horizontal space. Apple hints at a number of possible applications, most notably shrinking phone electronics to fit more components.