Patent Filings Reveal New Details About Microsoft's Vision For a Foldable, Dual-Screen Surface Device

A patent application published this week by Microsoft adds more fuel to the fire about the possibility of a new hybrid dual-screen Microsoft Surface device that blurs the lines between phone and tablet. From a report: The patent filing is for a "hinged device" with a "first and second portion" that includes a "flexible display." It would sport a hinge in the middle, similar in appearance to the one on the Surface Book, as well as familiar smartphone components like a bezel and camera. The inventor listed on the document is Kabir Siddiqui, who has been named on previous patent documents related to a foldable Surface device. He's also credited with inventing features like the Surface kickstand and camera. The patents represent one of the clearest signs yet that Microsoft has shown interest in building a "new and disruptive" category that includes elements of a smartphone, tablet and computer all in one. Rumblings of a new Surface phone-like device, under the codename Andromeda, have persisted for years, though the company has yet to confirm such a plan.

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[Dusanyu]

you you ever get bored posting the same thing to every thread?

Patents don't mean squat

[Joce640k]

Filing a patent doesn't mean they're going to make anything, it just means they might be able to sue Samsung for a lot of money one day.

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[ShanghaiBill]

Filing a patent doesn't mean they're going to make anything

Indeed. It actually indicates the opposite. If they were really working on it, they would have filed the patents years ago. When you plan a new project, the FIRST thing you do is nail down the IP.

Apple already made and sold a folding iphone

[goombah99]

iphone 6. it wasn't popular so they made the next ones non-folding.

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[alvinrod]

If Microsoft were to receive a patent for their own implementation, it would imply that the patent office believes that it is different from other, existing implementations. Utility patents cover specific implementations, not general ideas. If Apple (or some other company) has a patent using approach ABC, but Microsoft's patent lists using approach XYZ for that aspect, then their implementation would not infringe on that other patent.

Also, most of this stuff never actually sees the light of day because i

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[nasch]

Of course if you're going to spend all of that money paying engineers to do the R&D work, you may as well patent it it in case you need it later or someone else is interested in buying or licensing it from you.

Or you would like to be able to keep someone else from doing it.

Microsoft DS

[Feneric]

From the description given it sounds an awful lot like a Nintendo DS, only benefiting from smaller, more expensive phone components.

Yay, finally the surface phone!

[filesiteguy]

I have only been waiting five years for this to come to light. Of course, teh one app that will still work on windows 10 mobile is probably not useful.

I honestly don't see this happening. I remember the HP Elite X3. I thought it was a great idea to have a mobile phone that coudl double as a computer. However, in reality, I found it less than desirable. it didn't join my domain, had a hard time connecting to domain printers, and required special hardware to hook up.

I am fine with a mobile device in my pocket