Samsung Patent Reveals Functionality Of Foldable Smartphone
The Samsung Galaxy X will be the first foldable smartphone from Samsung. A new patent application by Samsung reveals how the company envisions its foldable smartphone to function.
The two screens will function like a physical split screen wherein each will be running its own app with its own app switcher. This will work in both the portrait and landscape modes.
There is another mode in the patent which chronicles a functionality of the foldable phone similar to the Nintendo 3DS. In certain apps and games, both the displays will be showing different aspects of the interface of that particular app.
Samsung has expressed the difficulties of the shifting a foldable phone from a ‘concept’ to a ‘mass products’.
Dongjin Koh, President of mobile business at Samsung told some reporters at a news conference in South Korea that there are still hurdles to overcome and a possible release would be pushed back if the issues are not resolved in time.
When we can overcome some problems for sure, we will launch the product. We are digging thoroughly into several issues we must overcome, as we don’t want to just make a few, sell a few and be done. We want to hear that Samsung made a very good product. We have a plan to adopt a foldable display in our roadmap.
The foldable smartphone has long been touted as the Galaxy X, which now sounds like a rip-off of the iPhone X which means Samsung will definitely not go with this name. A number of patents as well as Samsung’s own concept video from CES 2013 tell us what to expect from the Galaxy X. Samsung is most likely to start small, with a smartphone that folds halfway like a wallet. Another design, in line with Samsung’s prototype unveiling, could see the phone unfold into a full-size tablet.
