Here’s a set of patents that Apple has filed for that may give us some insight into what they are planning for their upcoming tablet and future iPhones.
Intelligent power monitoring
“An electronic device operative to monitor and control processes and operations based on the power cost of those processes and operations are provided.” and “the electronic [...]

On January 7, 2010, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application patent application 20100001973 from Apple.  The new patent would help create a thinner, brighter touchscreen for mobile devices.  Here is the patent description:
A touch screen including display pixels with capacitive elements is provided. The touch screen includes first common voltage lines [...]

A new Apple patent has been revealed today shows a tablet like device that uses a pen as an input device for hand writing recognition, the tablet was filed with the patent office back in July 2009.
“An ink manager running at a computer system receives ink information entered at a pen-based input/display device and accumulates [...]

14th July, 2009 by adriana
Apple is considering as a possibility for the iPhone or the iPod touch, an application that includes a “multi-touch display screen with localized tactile feedback”. A grid of piezoelectric actuators that can be activated at will to provide a vibration feedback when you touch the screen is what the new Apple’s [...]