A recently published Apple patent application suggests the company is developing a new system of status indicators for its iPod and iPhone devices.
The patent describes a system in which the main backlight of the device sports a semi-transparent area, allowing a low-power, secondary backlight to show through, displaying simple icons to show whether the iPod is playing music, indicate new email or voicemail, missed calls, and so on.
As with all Apple patents, this filing does not necessarily represent any future product release from Apple, but offers evidence of the company’s research in this area.