Another patent teases some kind of foldable device coming from Microsoft
Take a look at an “exoskeletal hinge”
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It’s been quite the year for foldable devices, though actuallygetting them on salehas proved a struggle for companies dealing with the cutting-edge tech. Now a newly published patentspotted by WindowsLatestteases another folding gadget on the way fromMicrosoft.
On the back of rumorsearlier this weekpredicting the arrival a foldable Surface device, we’ve got a filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office that gives us some idea about what such a device might look like.
Andit looksvery much like aSurface Bookbut with the entire laptop made up of a display screen – we’re assuming that the lower half of it could turn into a touchscreen keyboard or whatever you wanted, but the patent focuses mainly on the folding mechanism.
Microsoft proposes what’s intriguingly called an “exoskeletal hinge” to allow users to fold and unfold their new notebook. Besides that, the patent doesn’t go into too much detail about potential uses, but does mention laptop components like processors and storage.
As with any patent, this won’t necessarily end up turning into an actual product, but it gives us some idea of what Microsoft is planning – and it seems like foldable devices of some description are on the agenda.
While we’ve seen folding phones fromSamsungand Huaweiannounced this year, neither has actually made it to the market yet. It seems there are a few issues to fix before we’re all carrying folding phones and laptops around.
We know that Microsoft has been thinking about folding devices forten years at least, so from that perspective this patent isn’t too much of a surprise. It would seem this is separate fromthe Centaurus projectthat involves two displays with a more conventional hinge, but time will tell.
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However, the display tech is now available to make these sorts of next-gen gadgets possible. Most of the big names in the business –including Google– are believed to be working on hardware with foldable screens attached.
ViaPocketNow
Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.
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