Apple patents the super-soaraway selfie system of the future

Apple has embarked on a mission to allow fanbois to take the best quality mobile phone selfies in the history of humanity.

As well as a new section in the iTunes store specifically dedicated to "Sharing Selfie" apps which allow fanbois to share pictures of their ugly mug, the fruity firm has patented a system to allow them to fix lenses to an iPhone.

Apps for the self-obsessed include sexting enabler Snapchat and something called Front Flash, which is dedicated to helping low light exposure. But not of the rude kind, obviously.

The patent is full of references to rotating members and bayonets, which sounds pretty painful.

Yet this just relates to a bayonet lens attachment system. In a nod to Apple's Magsafe plug, which loosely connects to a laptop using magnets to prevent any disastrous tugging incidents, the fruity firm's new system allows the lens to detach in the case of "a drop event".

"Attachment mechanisms are provided," the patent says. "The attachment mechanisms may be configured to couple accessory devices, such as lens devices to an electronic device. For example, a lens may be coupled to the exterior of an electronic device with first and second attachment mechanisms.”

Selfie was Oxford Dictionaries' word of the year in 2013 and describes a social phenomenon which has become far too pervasive.

It has recently been blamed for soaring interest in plastic surgery and looks set to render the next generation the most boring, vain and self-obsessed to date. ®