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Those who at least somehow follow the world of gadgets, could not miss how at one time Microsoft made a ridiculous attempt to return to the world of smartphones by releasing SOMETHING.
It, according to the designers and engineers of the company, was supposed to attract a huge number of users, but it became just a creepy gadget incomprehensibly to anyone.
Everything would be fine, but this hybrid of two smartphones and a door hinge cost comparable to full-fledged bending smartphones from Samsung and other brands.
At the same time, it looked as awkward as possible and was very expensive, even despite the fact that while it was being prepared, the iron was outdated by about a year.
If you haven’t guessed by now, it was the Microsoft Surface Duo. So now the company can turn this failed idea into something really cool.
The strangest phone
Microsoft may be preparing to turn the foldable smartphone market on its head with a new design for its ugly duckling.
It will not only become more productive, but also lose those loops that frightened and repelled the most. In the third generation, this smartphone can become a full-fledged folding device in the modern sense of the word.
Microsoft has filed a patent for a revolutionary folding mechanism that relies on a section of flexible glass to allow 360-degree movement. Unlike other designs that use flexible glass and wrinkle over time, Microsoft uses a base plate with slots designed to keep the glass in perfect condition.
What will be the new folding Surface Duo 3
The patent application (not likely, but it’s possible that the Surface Duo 3 will also implement it) describes a process that uses “folding glass configurations with a rear panel that has slots on the back that facilitate folding while avoiding mechanical creases.”
Behind this ornate formulation, in addition to the realization of the dubiousness of previous decisions, lies something else interesting.
If this concept was not bad, then something definitely went wrong.
Microsoft goes on to describe the advantages of its design, including the fact that “display devices of the present disclosure are free to rotate to a variety of angles and orientations, and have substantially uniform and smooth surfaces in a variety of stacked and flat orientations.”
As an added benefit, the design of the back panel will help Microsoft’s device be more mechanically robust than other smartphones using the flexible glass approach, such as the Galaxy Fold.
Is it worth buying a foldable phone
Folding phones were first perceived as something fantastic and coming from the future. The price tag on them at the same time was appropriate. Then we began to think that all this would remain fragile concepts, but the appearance of protection against water, an increase in mechanical strength and a decrease in price did their job.
Now many are sure that such smartphones will be in 5-7 years . Even more faith in this is strengthened by manufacturers who massively began to produce such devices. So on the market you can already count about two dozen different models of varying degrees of relevance.
There is another tablet with the same idea. There is little doubt about its usefulness.
Against the background of all this, Microsoft’s attempts to release a smartphone of two halves looked ridiculous and repulsive (in approximately equal proportions).
The most convenient phone
For now, I believe more in the convenience of sliding devices, like the Oppo X 2021, which was never released, but which I personally held in my hands as a working device. But I would not refuse to try something that unfolds 360 degrees, and even loses its crease.
This is really convenient and cheaper than making a separate external screen for compact use and a large internal one for tablet mode. In this case, you can simply bend the smartphone in the opposite direction and use it with one hand.
Let’s see what happens, but even the presence of a patent suggests that something interesting is waiting for us. Of course, it won’t happen this year, and most likely not next year, but the prospect of foldable gadgets is getting more and more enticing.
