While the actual product itself is important, so is its packaging, otherwise we’d be taking our devices home in brown paper bags. The packaging is part of the entire experience one gets when opening their brand new purchase which is why companies like Apple have paid a lot of attention to its design.
Now according to an Apple patent discovered by Patently Apple, it seems that Apple could be thinking about taking packaging to the next level by making them smarter. No, this does not mean that we will be seeing our packaging come equipped with electronics, but rather it will allow the user to setup their brand new device without having to even take it out of the box.
Basically as you can see in the diagram above, it features a “Tap here” tag in which the user is expected to tap their existing device against the new one. From there and presumably through the use of NFC technology, all the data and information from the user’s existing handset will be transferred to the new one.
This allows the user to have their new phone/tablet all ready to go when they take it out of the box versus spending the next hour or two setting up everything the way they want it. The patent also talks about how the devices inside the box could have a variety of power modes, such as off, packaged mode in which power is being conserved but it remains discoverable, and full on.
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