This mysterious patent may mean Microsoft is making a sick smartphone
The last time Microsoft tried releasing a phone, it didn't go so well. Even so, rumors have been circulating for months about the possibility of a new phone from the company, the Surface Phone, which could actually be awesome.
Thursday, the World Intellectual Property Organization granted Microsoft a mysterious patent. The patent, filed in June, contains sketches and descriptions of what such a phone might look like.
The patent is for a "self-regulating hinge," a hinge that could grant additional flexibility to a dual-screened device, similar to Lenovo Yoga, but with screens on both parts.
The hinge would allow the two screens, when lined up, to make up a single display with no bezel in between. It could also allow a device to fold backwards and forwards into multiple positions: sometimes a laptop, sometimes a tablet, sometimes a tent.
While the patent doesn't say this hinge is intended for a phone rather than a tablet or laptop, the text mentions that the hinge can be made very compactly, allowing devices to fit in a user's pocket.
Back to reality: This phone might not actually be a thing. There's little evidence that anything called a Surface Phone actually exists, and Microsoft has certainly never indicated it's making one.
But even if such a phone is released, it might face some stiff competition, even after the novelty is filled. Samsung recently submitted sketches of a foldable smartphone (the rumored Galaxy X) to the Korean Intellectual Property Office that would, if produced, probably blow dual-display competitors like ZTE's Axon M out of the water. Samsung's smartphone doesn't appear to fold both ways, which might give it an advantage over a Surface Phone where pragmatics are concerned.
So keep an eye out for this sick-looking phone, but don't hold your breath yet.
Topics Microsoft
Monica wrote for Mashable's Tech section with a focus on retail, internet of things, and the intersections of technology and social justice. She holds a degree in creative writing from Brown University, and has previously written for Dow Jones Media, the New York Post, Yahoo Finance, and others. In her free time, she can be found attempting to cook Asian food, buying board games, and looking for new hobbies.
