A new and innovative patent has been found at WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization). LG has patented two types of foldable phones which may rival the alleged Samsung Galaxy X, which is rumored to be the first phone with a foldable display to hit the market. Both the phones can transform into a tablet with a much bigger screen.
When folded, the first model can show information like the time on an external display, which should have the size of a typical smartphone display. The screen size could be smaller, given that we can see a camera sensor at the bottom. There are two cameras on this model, on opposite sides. The one with the flash is likely the primary camera.
The second LG smartphone patented is similar to the first one, but has an additional element. It seems that it will not be possible to see a normal display when the phone is folded. When the phone is folded, there is only a sort of sidebar on the outside (instead of a larger sized screen as seen on the first model) which can show the time and probably the notifications. You can see what we are talking about in the images above.
These may not be the first patents we are seeing of foldable smartphones, but it does prove that different companies are developing such smartphones and a commercial release could be possible in the near future. We had seen another foldable design from LG back in January 2017, you can check them out from here.
(Via)
