A new Apple patent describes a system that can adjust an iPhone’s receiver volume based on the proximity of the device to a user’s ear. The phone would be able to sense if a user has moved the telephone further away from his or her ear, and raise the receiver volume in response. Additionally, the speakerphone volume could also be adjusted based on the user’s distance from the telephone, while another concept would allow the phone to automatically switch from using the receiver to using the speaker as the phone gets further from a user.
Users could conceivably store proximity audio settings within user profiles. Proximity changes could trigger a recall of these various user profiles — each profile could have its own default volume. Other acoustic properties, such as frequency response, could also be adjusted based on proximity. [via Apple Insider]