Microsoft maybe still dreams of bendy phones, judging from 360° folding screen patent
(2023/08/30)
- Reference: 1693430949
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/08/30/360_degree_microsoft_folding_screen/
- Source link:
Microsoft's first attempt at a folding phone didn't go so well, though a fresh patent from the Windows giant suggests it might be holding out hope that a 360-degree foldable screen could make the difference.
The [1]patent , published this month by the World Intellectual Property Organization and only just spotted, details a design for a suspiciously [2]Surface Duo -looking folding device that ditches the gap between twin screens for a single folding one. Rather than simply closing flat like other foldable phones, Microsoft envisions this one doing something you oughtn't do with anything but the cheapest of mass-market paperbacks: fold it 360 degrees so the halves of its outer case meet.
Other folding devices "are incapable of folding the display in the opposite direction into an open or back-to-back orientation," Microsoft said in its filing, because "these devices utilize hinge designs that would stretch and exert tensile stresses on the flexible display substrate that would damage [it] upon folding [outward]."
[3]
Concept illustration for a 360-degree folding screen device from Microsoft's patent application ... Click to enlarge
Samsung, the current leader in folding smartphones, [4]previewed similar technology earlier this year, while fellow South Korean chaebol LG showed off 360-degree foldable OLED screens more than [5]a year ago .
In other words, Redmond isn't exactly breaking ground here.
[6]
To relieve tensile stress on its potential 360-degree foldable, Microsoft said it designed the complicated system to translate the device's two halves toward the spine of the device in a manner that "substantially eliminates potentially damaging tensile stresses." The effect is achieved by cams that are "configured to produce a larger translation" in the position of the device's halves relative to the spine when back-to-back compared to when closed normally.
[7]
Details of the hinge design for Microsoft's 360-degree folding screen device ... Click to enlarge
The Windows maker tried twice with its dual-screen Surface Duo Android Smartphone in 2019 and 2021, though Microsoft reportedly [8]killed the line early this year. As of writing the Surface Duo 2 is listed as unavailable on Microsoft's website.
[9]Microsoft, Intel lead this month's security fix emissions
[10]Microsoft's Activision fight with FTC turned up a Blizzard of docs: Here's your summary
[11]Microsoft rethinks death sentence for Windows Mail and Calendar apps
[12]Microsoft remembers it was going to bring Windows 11 to HoloLens
Whether this 360-degree foldable will emerge to replace the widely [13]lampooned Duo is unknown. Microsoft hasn't answered questions we asked about the patent, which doesn't appear to have been granted - only published, meaning it's available for public review.
As is always the case with patents, it's difficult to know what's a future product and what's simply a company throwing ideas at the wall to see what sticks.
[14]
Previously patented Microsoft ideas have included [15]brain-computer interfaces and the ability for the [16]Hololens to learn what your keys look like and [17]find them when you can't - provided you actually want to [18]wear the things . ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2023150433
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/11/uk_surface_duo/
[3] https://regmedia.co.uk/2023/08/30/microsoft-360-degree-folding-screen-patent-1.jpg
[4] https://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-360-degree-display-galaxy-z-fold-5-3269905/
[5] https://www.inverse.com/input/tech/lg-folding-phone-360-degree-smartphone-display-concept
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZO@8BG8kPOtZripRgqrAEgAAAg8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[7] https://regmedia.co.uk/2023/08/30/microsoft-360-screen-patent-11-14.jpg
[8] https://www.windowscentral.com/hardware/laptops/microsoft-scraps-plans-for-dual-screen-surface-duo-3-pivots-to-new-foldable-screen-design
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/08/microsoft_intel_august_patch_tuesday/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/28/microsoft_ftc_activision/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/20/microsoft_calendar_mail_outlook/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/15/microsoft_windows_11_holographic/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/14/surface_duo_ifixit_teardown/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZO@8BG8kPOtZripRgqrAEgAAAg8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2018/01/15/microsoft_bci_patent_application/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/17/microsoft_hololens_windows_11/
[17] https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-patent-augmented-reality-stop-you-losing-keys-milk-object-tracking-2016-12
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/13/us_army_report_microsoft_hololens/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The [1]patent , published this month by the World Intellectual Property Organization and only just spotted, details a design for a suspiciously [2]Surface Duo -looking folding device that ditches the gap between twin screens for a single folding one. Rather than simply closing flat like other foldable phones, Microsoft envisions this one doing something you oughtn't do with anything but the cheapest of mass-market paperbacks: fold it 360 degrees so the halves of its outer case meet.
Other folding devices "are incapable of folding the display in the opposite direction into an open or back-to-back orientation," Microsoft said in its filing, because "these devices utilize hinge designs that would stretch and exert tensile stresses on the flexible display substrate that would damage [it] upon folding [outward]."
[3]
Concept illustration for a 360-degree folding screen device from Microsoft's patent application ... Click to enlarge
Samsung, the current leader in folding smartphones, [4]previewed similar technology earlier this year, while fellow South Korean chaebol LG showed off 360-degree foldable OLED screens more than [5]a year ago .
In other words, Redmond isn't exactly breaking ground here.
[6]
To relieve tensile stress on its potential 360-degree foldable, Microsoft said it designed the complicated system to translate the device's two halves toward the spine of the device in a manner that "substantially eliminates potentially damaging tensile stresses." The effect is achieved by cams that are "configured to produce a larger translation" in the position of the device's halves relative to the spine when back-to-back compared to when closed normally.
[7]
Details of the hinge design for Microsoft's 360-degree folding screen device ... Click to enlarge
The Windows maker tried twice with its dual-screen Surface Duo Android Smartphone in 2019 and 2021, though Microsoft reportedly [8]killed the line early this year. As of writing the Surface Duo 2 is listed as unavailable on Microsoft's website.
[9]Microsoft, Intel lead this month's security fix emissions
[10]Microsoft's Activision fight with FTC turned up a Blizzard of docs: Here's your summary
[11]Microsoft rethinks death sentence for Windows Mail and Calendar apps
[12]Microsoft remembers it was going to bring Windows 11 to HoloLens
Whether this 360-degree foldable will emerge to replace the widely [13]lampooned Duo is unknown. Microsoft hasn't answered questions we asked about the patent, which doesn't appear to have been granted - only published, meaning it's available for public review.
As is always the case with patents, it's difficult to know what's a future product and what's simply a company throwing ideas at the wall to see what sticks.
[14]
Previously patented Microsoft ideas have included [15]brain-computer interfaces and the ability for the [16]Hololens to learn what your keys look like and [17]find them when you can't - provided you actually want to [18]wear the things . ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2023150433
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/11/uk_surface_duo/
[3] https://regmedia.co.uk/2023/08/30/microsoft-360-degree-folding-screen-patent-1.jpg
[4] https://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-360-degree-display-galaxy-z-fold-5-3269905/
[5] https://www.inverse.com/input/tech/lg-folding-phone-360-degree-smartphone-display-concept
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZO@8BG8kPOtZripRgqrAEgAAAg8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[7] https://regmedia.co.uk/2023/08/30/microsoft-360-screen-patent-11-14.jpg
[8] https://www.windowscentral.com/hardware/laptops/microsoft-scraps-plans-for-dual-screen-surface-duo-3-pivots-to-new-foldable-screen-design
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/08/microsoft_intel_august_patch_tuesday/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/28/microsoft_ftc_activision/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/20/microsoft_calendar_mail_outlook/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/15/microsoft_windows_11_holographic/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/14/surface_duo_ifixit_teardown/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZO@8BG8kPOtZripRgqrAEgAAAg8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2018/01/15/microsoft_bci_patent_application/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/17/microsoft_hololens_windows_11/
[17] https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-patent-augmented-reality-stop-you-losing-keys-milk-object-tracking-2016-12
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/13/us_army_report_microsoft_hololens/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/