It looks as if patent applications are becoming the main source of information regarding the features on future devices. Earlier, we found out about future iPhones possibly getting a glowing logo through this. Now, however, it’s something regarding Samsung smartphones. Something that has to do with sliding displays.
Yes, you heard that right. Sliding displays on future smartphones. It seems as if we have an interesting future ahead of us. But wait. What is a sliding display exactly and how does it work? To know that we’ll have to look at the details of the application uploaded for the patent.
As you can see in the image above, the device has a large display that covers almost all of the front except the bottom part. That’s because there is a sliding mechanism beneath it that allows you to slide the display up or down. Why would you need to do it? Well, we’re not exactly sure but our best guess is to expose a certain component of the device that remains hidden most of the time.
As cool as it sounds, it’s far from the only thing that we found in this application. Apart from the sliding main display, we have a secondary display. It is much smaller than the main display and is positioned towards the bottom of the device. At this point, we’re unsure what is the exact purpose or functionality of this as the pictures do not provide enough information. I guess this could be to display notifications when the device is placed upside down.
That, however, wasn’t all as a second image indicated future smartphones with rotating under-screen cameras. I still remember a time not long ago when pop-up cameras were all the rage but this takes it to a whole new level. As you can see in the image above, the camera is behind the display on the bottom right. It has an ability to rotate around via a mechanism similar to rack and pinion.
The rotating mechanism is most likely intended to be used to switch between front and rear cameras. Using a rotating camera module is convenient in the sense that you don’t need that many sensors diving up into the front and rear cameras. A benefit of that is that you are also able to take selfies at a much higher quality since a better sensor is used. I can totally imagine the rotating camera appearing as Samsung has already experimented with it on the Galaxy A80.
Now before you get excited, there’s something you need to know about these patents. Most of the stuff that comes here is for a manufacturer’s R&D. This means that there’s a chance we might never see them into any future device, which does seem like a bummer. However, these are the type of things that act as a constant reminder that technology is constantly evolving and never peaks.