Samsung patents new foldable phone that can flip open AND slide out
India Today
Samsung is looking to redefine the foldable smartphone segment with a device that can both flip open, as well as extend to provide more screen space.
Samsung has an unsaid lead in the foldable smartphone segment, thanks to the several iterations of its Galaxy Fold and Flip smartphones that have come up to date. The tech major wants to retain this dominance and many reports in the past few weeks have suggested its ongoing work aimed at the cause. A new one suggests that Samsung may be coming up with a new foldable phone with the ability to extend its display.
In essence, the phone will be both foldable and extendable, and will likely be a part of Samsung's Galaxy lineup. As hinted in a patent, the phone is currently under work and means to offer a display to users that is twice as large upon unfolding. The phone will seemingly achieve this through a clamshell design as seen on the Galaxy Flip 3.
The patent titled 'Multi-folding electronic apparatus' has been published today by Samsung Electronics with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). As spotted by LetsGoDigital, it mentions a phone that folds along its vertical axis, as seen on the Galaxy Z Flip clamshell models.
Samsung's patent shows that the foldable phone will be just as compact as the existing Z Flip 3. It will, however, not just unfold like the phone, but also have an additional screen hidden away in the upper part of the case. The display can be pulled out to increase the total screen size to double the area seen on the Flip 3.
The result would then be a long stretch of display for viewing experiences. Though the interesting part comes next. The patent describes that the phone can be arranged in a way that there are two Fold phones kept back to back. This means that the device will have an upright and a landscape screen on both sides, with the upright display parts magnetically pulled towards each other. The arrangement can be helpful for small PvP games like Battleship, which you would like to play with your friends. For this, we might also see virtual game buttons on the phone.
As seen in the patent, it will also be possible to simply pull out the device instead of unfolding it. This will let users operate it on a small display when they do not wish to unfold the device. Because of all this, the phone will not have a separate front screen.
It is yet unknown when Samsung will come out with the phone, i.e., if it does. Approval on a patent does not necessarily mean that a company brings a technology to the market, as much of that depends on its viability. It will, however, be interesting to see how Samsung pushes the boundaries of foldable phones in the time to come.
