Motorola patents foldable smartphone with motorized hinge
Foldable smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 are already capable of being partially (or half-) opened to align the cameras and to use the hinge as a kind of camera tripod. On September 26, Motorola published a new patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which shows how this function could become much more practical in the future.
The patent describes a motorized hinge that allows the upper half of a flip phone to be automatically realigned, regardless of whether it is in "tent mode" or upright. This will be particularly useful for video chats, as the user will always be centered in the picture, even if they move forwards or backwards. Such a hinge would also be helpful for selfies and group photos taken autonomously by the smartphone.
The patent describes a motor that is integrated directly into the hinge of the smartphone, but also a clip-on motor that could be sold as an accessory. This motor is attached to both halves of the screen to pull them towards each other or further apart in order to effectively change the angle of the hinge.
According to the patent, a motorized hinge could enable far more reliable subject tracking than software solutions, which often rely on a section of the field of view of an ultra-wide-angle camera, but do not work optimally if the user is too close or too far away from the camera. As usual, a patent does not necessarily mean that Motorola will actually launch such a product onto the market.
