Learning from the best! While we do know that Microsoft is busying working on the Surface Duo 3, precious few details regarding this upcoming Android handset have made their way out.
The company is holding its annual hardware event in October where devices like the Surface Pro 9 and the Surface Studio 3 are expected, but there are no signs yet of the Surface Duo 3 that is tracking for a launch sometime in 2023.
That said, there are signs in other places, if you look.
A new patent application hints that Microsoft is preparing something very special for the growing foldable market with a design that could apply to the Surface Duo 3.
The patent application FOLDABLE DISPLAY DEVICE was filed sometime in 2021 and published this year, and it details what is likely a very promising handheld foldable phone with hardware right up there with the very best in business.
Say, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.
Surface Duo, as you are aware, features two screens with a hinge in the middle that enables rotation. This successor that Microsoft is working on is believed to be a single screen phone with one foldable panel that can go from 0 to 360 degrees.
The above picture in the patent application shows how this foldable phone can switch seamlessly between a tablet and a one-handed smartphone.
This is a rather radical idea when you consider the form factor that is very unique in that the display of the phone can bend both inwards and outwards. This has actually not been implemented by any Android manufacturer so far.
Phones from the likes of Samsung only support inward folding when the display is on the top, so this may continue the Surface tradition of innovating something new.
And, really, something like this only really works if Microsoft is able to create a new optimized UI for it.
But that’s a topic for another day, as this is just a patent. And patents don’t necessarily mean that the Surface Duo 3 with this design is imminent or even likely. However, patents like this give us a better look at what a company like Microsoft may be thinking.
And you know what they say, it’s the thought that counts!
