According to a new patent application that has recently been filed by Apple Computer Inc the new and upcoming iPhone OS could well offer contact icons on the home screen.

The icons are said to be used to invoke applications retrieve and also display contacts information or it can be modified in order to display information related to an individual contact.

This patent was actually filed back in July 2008 and states the following the icon can also be sued to invoke one or more applications that are personalized to the contact. The icon can be modified to display information related to the contact. In one aspect an icon associated with an entity can be temporally displayed on the mobile device based on the proximity of the mobile device to the entity.

The patent has today accepted the filing by Apple. And this could mean that we are well on our way to seeing this feature being added or introduced in the upcoming iPhone OS 4.0. Source – redmondpie.com