Microsoft Plans To Try Mobile Market Again With Foldable Device, Presumed As Surface Phone

Microsoft's Lumia product line failed to achieve the impact it supposed to have in the mobile market despite rigorous efforts. But the tech-giant isn't giving up in the mobile market just yet. It seems like the mobile industry will be seeing a foldable Microsoft Surface Phone as the company filed a patent for a foldable device.

According to Forbes, the patent has been filed on September 2015 and is made public a few days ago. The patent is on PDF and contains and image that depicts a device that can be folded in half. This led to the speculation that there is indeed a Microsoft Surface Phone project and it is in development. This concept is great in many ways, and the first thing it will solve is the problem of too many devices because of screen problem sizes.

There will be an upward curve in the middle of the device. The seemingly Microsoft Surface Phone patent document (which can be found here) explained that the upward curve will create an optical illusion of one whole image by drawing away lights from the gaps. In that way, the user's experience won't be disturbed by the gap in the middle.

Samsung is also rumored to patent a "bendable" device. According to CNET, the bendable phone will be released this year. The difference between Samsung's patent and Microsoft is that Samsung's design uses a hinge in the back to make the phone bendable. The screen doesn't have a gap and an upward curve, uses a bendable gapless screen instead. This might indicate that Microsoft and Samsung might clash in the future with Samsung's bendable phone and Microsoft Surface Phone.

Foldable and bendable phones are sometimes not practical. First, the device thickens when folded, making it rather ugly or flatly not convenient. Second, phone parts might be limited in specs. There is no way (at least right now) to have bendable or foldable batteries, but it is no problem if the battery will put on one side only. But of course, it will not be powerful spec-wise. If Microsoft will implement this model to a product, it will be definitely in a Microsoft Surface Phone.