No that doesn’t mean Apple has joined forces with Simon Cowell, or that Apple will be sponsoring the US X Factor to find the next singing superstar, what it does mean though is that Apple has apparently submitted a patent application that could turn your iOS device into a type of mobile karaoke system.

According to an article on The Telegraph, this new system will be able to train iPod and iPhone users to sing in the right key and pitch as well as turning off key tunes into in tune renditions.

Apparently the patent allows the user to select their favourite tunes to have a bash at, and just like a traditional karaoke machine will display the words of a song as a video, an as the user sings along the iOS device analyses their singing attempt and compares it with how it should sound.

The system then delivers feedback on how the two differ and helps the user to correct their singing performance. If you just happen to be a good singer and hit the right pitch and key you get a reward of having your performance enhanced with a “concert hall effect.”

However, if you are like many of those off key performers seen in shows such as the X Factor the system will exaggerate your mistakes and play them through your headphones.

Apparently the Apple patent also proposes the user will be able to save their singing performance so they can edit them, and a digital sound readout would allow the user to compare their attempt with the original song.

The word is tracks include several popular karaoke favourites by artists such as Tina Turner, MC Hammer, Blondie and the Beach Boys. Apple has declined to comment just how they intend to develop the patent or when it would likely become available.

Of course as this is only a patent, the Apple karaoke system for iOS devices may never come out to play, as is the case with many patent ideas. So we’d love to know if Apple does come up with this singing mentor system would out readers jump on it to make their singing a little bit better?