Apple's crazy camera screen

iPod-maker-patents an image-capturing LCD panel that takes pictures as it shows them.

Does Apple ever stop patenting crazy ideas? The big A's latest submission is particularly ingenious: it's a screen that also works as a camera.

By squeezing thousands of tiny image sensors into the gaps between liquid crystal cells inside the screen, the proposed display will be able to capture lots of small pictures. It can then combine them to create a larger image.

Apple suggests that this technology would be well suited to videoconferencing - the fact that participants would always appear to be looking straight into the screen rather than at a webcam to the side or above it is a big plus point. It would also be a neat, space-saving way of adding a camera-like function to phones, PDAs and - dare we say it - iPods. Heck, the light emanating from the screen would serve as a kind of flash too.

We may not see this technology in action for a while, but it's on its way - we'll keep you posted on any further developments.