Microsoft patents a foldable device

Microsoft might have failed in the smartphone market, but they are not giving up on tablets. To stay in the game, all big brands should have foldable tablets on the market in a few years. Since we already saw patents describing such products by companies like Samsung or LG, the fresh patent by Microsoft that shows a foldable device does not come as a surprise.

The patent has been spotted by MSPoweruser and describes what appears to be a foldable tablet with a flexible hinge that secures multiple housings to each other, allowing them to rotate around an axis. Thanks to this design, the tablet supports a continuous viewing area that covers both the housings and the hinge area.

Microsoft also mentioned a set of dimensions for devices that would use this technology. The sizes start at 7.9 inches and go all the way up to 18 inches. The resolution details only include values up to 231 ppi, while only two aspect ratio values can be spotted - 3:2 and 3:4.

Maybe we should get ready for foldable Surface device, but commercial availability still seems to be at least one year ahead.