Microsoft’s New Patent Hints Its Upcoming Foldable Phone

USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office) has recently granted a patent to Microsoft for a design of a foldable device which looks like a tablet with dual screens. Microsoft filed the patent to UPSTO in August 2017, but it was just published on December 13, 2018.

MSPoweruser was the first to find out about the patent that the giant tech firm named ‘HINGED DEVICE.’ In particular, the patent details the application of the hinge mechanism to fold a dual-screen device in half. Plus, the company is designing a lock popping open when you touch the lock button.

According to Microsoft, the description is about hinged devices, hinged computing devices for example. A hinged device can consist of two parts, each has hinge ends that are rotatably secured relative to a hinge shaft.

This device can also feature a friction arm with a U shape which extends from the first end of the shaft to the other end. Microsoft can also include a pop-up mechanism along the shaft, lying between the two ends, the assembly is meant to generate a bias to rotate the two parts from each other.

For a long time, Microsoft has been researching and developing foldable, but it has never made any official announcements about this. And though we cannot usually predict an upcoming device based on patents, this technology patented by Microsoft can feature in Andromeda.

The alleged Andromeda device

A while ago, reports said that Microsoft has plans to update the mysterious Andromeda device. We started talking about the Andromeda in October. It is rumored to be Windows Phone’s successor, which is foldable and can be transformed into a tablet. Also, Andromeda may feature a new version of the Windows 10 operating system, which the company is currently working on.

Recently, Microsoft has obtained occupied the fifth position among the most popular PC brands in the United States thanks to significant sales from its Surface devices.