New patent suggests the Surface Phone could sport two displays

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Updated onJune 12, 2018

updated onJune 12, 2018

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There have been plenty of rumors about an upcomingSurfacePhone. Yet,Microsofthas revealed nothing about a potentialSurfacePhone. However, there have been numerous patents that highlight the software giant is at least developing some kind of foldablemobile device, which may, or may not, be a Surface Phone.Microsofthas now published two May 2018 patents that include a foldablemobile device.

One of theMicrosoft patentshighlights how a device with two displays could detect which display has the user focus. The patent includes afoldable mobile devicethat incorporates a variety of sensors that detect the display positions. The patent’s abstract states:

A mobile computing device is provided that includes a processor, an accelerometer, two or more display devices, and a housing including the processor, the accelerometer, and the two or more display devices, determine a current user focus indicating that a first display device of the pair of display devices is being viewed by the user, and that a second display device of the pair of display devices is not being viewed by the user.

Microsoftalso published another May patent (originally filed in 2016) that shows off a hingedmobile devicewith three displays! The patent shows how a third display could be incorporated into the device’s hinge. That third display could bridge the two primary displays together or act as a visual divider. The abstract for that patent states:

Techniques are described herein that are capable of making a state-based determination of information to be displayed on a screen region of a hinge that is coupled to other screen regions. For instance, a state of a hinge that is coupled between a first screen region and a second screen region may be determined. Information that is to be displayed on a third screen region that is provided on the hinge may be determine based at least in part on the state of the hinge.

What could the foldable device in the patents feasibly be? Who knows, it might be aSurfacePhone! It could be one of anew breed of folding phonesrumoured to be in the works. So that device might be a 2-in-1 phone and tablet.

The device could also be a new kind of dual display tablet. A tablet with two (or three) displays would certainly be something special. Then you could open apps in each of the two displays to utilize two apps at once. Both aMicrosofttablet and foldable phone would probably include the modular Windows Core OS.

These new patents do not necessarily mean thatMicrosoftis developing the foldable device shown within them. However, they will generate more rumors that the company is still cooking up aSurface Phoneor alternative foldablemobile device. At the very least, the patents highlight thatMicrosoftis at least considering releasing amobile devicein the foreseeable future.

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