Next for iPhones - Infrared Emitters and LASERs

I received my iPhone4 on Thursday night, and have been playing with it ever since. The new features are not as world changing as I'd expected, which is logical since I've had an iPhone for two years.

My old iPhone was the original 2G, 8GB version, so getting GPS, video record, and 3G with the new phone is very cool - it just didn't 'rock my casbah' the way going from a crummy flip phone to the iPhone did.

Surprisingly, one of my favorite new features is the ability to categorize apps into folders.

Also, the anti-oil coating on the glass doesn't really seem to collect fingerprints any less, but it does seem to allow my fingers to glide a bit better - there seems to be less friction, and I'm liking this.

As soon as I get my hands on a new piece of tech, I start thinking about everything it could do, but doesn't do.

The ability to use the phone as a remote control for the TV and DVD player would be very cool, and there is an add-on device you can buy from a 3rd party vendor that will turn your iPhone into a remote control. I'd like this feature built in, but I don't plan to buy the add-on.

A feature that I don't believe is available even from a 3rd party but would be very useful would be a laser thermometer.

The laser thermometer would need to have the laser emitter and the laser sensor built in to the phone, but would have many applications for temperature sensing alone; Scanning your beverage, the fridge, the freezer, your car's radiator, the cooking griddle or pan, the oven, outdoor temperature, bathwater, even your own body temperature.

Having the laser emitter and laser sensor built in to the phone would allow for many applications beyond temperature.

The laser could determine the shape and size of a room or house, telling you how much carpet or tile you need to buy, whether or not the new furniture you'd like to buy will actually fit, whether that new TV you're considering would fit into your entertainment center.

You could scan the layout and dimensions of your home allowing for easier renovation plans, determine the air volume for air conditioning and cooling. There's also a whole variety of uses for motion sensor apps.

A laser would also be useful for scanning UPC and Q-Codes, which the phones can do now (after a fashion) as they take a photo of the code and read the data from the photo, but having a built-in laser means one less step.

Given all the great applications a laser and sensor would allow, maybe EtchCo needs to create a little docking laser gadget for the iPhone...