Apple iPhone 5: Dual-LED flash, glasses-free 3D, wireless charging, carbon fibre frame, what else?

The recent round of rumors suggests that Apple iPhone 5 will come equipped with a dual-LED flash.

DigiTimes reported that Taiwan-based firms Everlight Electronics, Edison Opto and Lite-On Technology could possibly be chosen as suppliers for dual-LED flash. Of the three, Edison is considered to have started shipping LED flash components to other branded phone makers. Edison specializes in the production of high-power LED components and is thus seen as strong contender to be selected by Apple.

The rumor came into force after earlier reports suggested that Apple had reduced orders for LED flash units which it currently uses in iPhone 4. Apple is reported to have reduced orders for LED from Philips and was switching over to suppliers in the East.

Apple is expected to plant an 8MP camera in its next edition of iPhone. It was earlier reported that Apple has placed an order for 90 percent of its 8MP camera sensors with OmniVision and the remaining 10 percent will be supplied by Sony.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer had spilled the beans on Apple's 8MP camera plans in April while talking with WSJ about the affect of the Japanese earthquake on its factories.

Other rumors center around an edge-to-edge display, A5 processor, 1080p video playback capability, 3.7-inch curved glass screen, voice recognition feature, tear-drop design and a SIM-less GSM and CDMA compatible phone design with 3-4 internal antennas.

Also, Apple's recent patent release suggests that wireless charging will soon be available for Apple devices. The abstract of the patent talks about a wireless powered local computing environment which utilizes a near field magnetic resonance (NFMR) power supply to wirelessly charge devices configured with the wireless environment.

Another patent filing suggests that future iPhone and iPads could be fire-proof devices. Apple's proposed invention provides a fireproof halogen-free resin. Materials made with the resin will not catch fire in case of a short circuit. PatentlyApple records the patent as: Apple's proposed invention provides halogen-free flame retardants, resins that include halogen free flame retardants, and plastic components made from such materials. In some embodiments, the invention relates to a composite resin molded article having excellent flame retardancy, electric insulation properties, and crack resistance, and produces only negligible amounts of toxic substances during incineration, if any at all.

Also, Apple was given a glasses-free 3D patent in December 2010. The patent was titled Three-dimensional display system, a technology which ascertains the position of a viewer and determines the left and right eye locations, and then uses the information to navigate the pixels to a particular spot on screen which reflects it back to respective left and right eye locations. This would allow users to watch 3D without glasses.

In April, a group of French engineers called Engineering Human-Computer Interaction Research Group hacked the iPad 2 camera to make glasses-free 3D viewing possible. The group used a technology called Head-Coupled Perspective (HCP) which used the iPad 2'S front-facing camera as a head-tracker. It gauges the user's head position and accordingly adapts the perspective of 3D scene.

Another patent filing by Apple in November revealed that Apple could possibly use carbon fiber material instead of aluminum to make its future devices lighter. The patent titled Reinforced Device Housing talks about a fiber-in-matrix type material like carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP).

However, it does not mean that all these patents will actually find their way into upcoming devices.