At the hardware conference last October, Microsoft announced two devices, Surface Neo and Surface Duo. This is also the first time that Microsoft has been involved in dual-screen devices.
Although Microsoft promises to launch the phone in 2020, it looks like the company is working on more concept foldable phones.
According to the newly discovered technology patent, Microsoft may be developing a foldable phone similar to the Samsung Galaxy Fold.
The patent is entitled: "FOLDABLE DISPLAY DEVICE WITH INTERACTABLE USER INTERFACE SURFACE ON THE EXTERNAL SHELL", which was filed with the European Patent Office in 2018 and was publicly approved in December 2019.
The patent talks about placing a third screen on the back of a foldable smartphone so users can interact with the phone without expanding it into a tablet.
Samsung uses the same concept on the Galaxy Fold, which uses the small screen on the back when folding the phone.
The patent description mentions:
Aspects of the present disclosure provide a foldable display device that includes a user interface surface located on an exterior cover section of the foldable display device that allows a user to interact with the user interface surface while the foldable display device is in a closed state.
Interaction on the user interface surface during the closed state of the foldable display device may allow the user to select content to be shown on at least one display screen of the foldable display device on the interior section during a subsequent open state of the foldable display device.
Additionally, the user interface surface may be configured to allow an object produced (e.g., drawn or written) on the user interface surface to be stored for display on at least one of the first display screen, the second display screen, or the user interface surface.
