Possible iPhone Nano revealed in patent application

Since the iPhone 3GS appeared, rumours have gone deathly silent on the iPhone front. But it seems Apple still hasn't unchained its R&D bods from their drawing boards, as another patent application has been discovered coming out of Cupertino.

Whether or not this will evolve into an iPhone Nano is unclear (and a little unlikely), but this is probably the source of such rumours. The application shows a multi-touch, touchscreen-powered version of the iPod nano, with a more traditional pressure-sensitive panel mounted on the back for the click wheel.

But one aspect that raises a technological eyebrow is the inclusion of a touchscreen keyboard. While this could be employed in a variety of on-device uses (entering your own titles or notes onto songs, videos or playlists), the effort involved in embedding such a function also suggests the possibility of email, text messaging and an IM function, bringing us back around to a miniaturised iPhone.

Whether this new device - iPod or iPhone - will attempt to rejuvenate the iPod gaming scene is unknown, but it certainly looks to have the potential