Apple patents "dynamic ringtones"

So you get a call, and the phone creates a music video of the caller for you by piecing together audio and video – how does that sound?

This may well be the future, judging by a patent application from Apple. The application describes how the “music video” sequences will be generated either from data stored in your phone, or from data stored in the ether. Apple’s application makes specific references to the Genius content discovery system, and suggests the phone will be searching for “similarity data” to piece together the videos.

The patent application was originally submitted in late August of 2009, and could potentially be extended beyond the iPhone to any of Apple’s web-linked devices. The changes could kick in as early as this summer with the iOS 5, but nothing has been confirmed.