Hasta La Gadget!

Let’s begin with the usual disclaimer: Apple patent applications do not mean the outlandish technology will be arriving in the next iPhone, just that someone in a Cupertino basement cooked it up during a marathon “imagining” session (possibly while enjoying a cool glass of purple stuff). The company’s latest drawings-and-charts masterpiece concerns the construction and placement of photovoltaic cells and, more importantly, using the sun’s energy to illuminate a display. By using a mirror pointed at the sky, you could reflect some rays toward your screen to supplement an LED backlight, or by turning the top lid of your Macbook into a solar panel. Although we can see one minor drawback in using solar powered backlighting — if you have to point your display toward the sun, you’re gonna need some powerful shades.