In the past few years, we have seen dual displays, foldable screens and, according to a new patent, soon we could even see wraparound displays. Samsung filed a patent at USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) which showcases the first smartphone with a wraparound display. The patent discovered by Dutch publication Letsgodigital highlights a flexible panel that extends over the smartphone’s edge and continues on the rear side of the handset.
Such a display may be useful for several usage patterns, especially for photography. First of all, it would allow people to use the main cameras as front cameras too in order to shoot awesome selfies. According to the attached images, the dual-sided wraparound display can even be used for live translation. And thanks to the dual side the user could be able to interact with different applications on each side, such as writing messages while having the call screen open on the other side.
The patent is titled Electronic Device Having Plurality and Method for Controlling the Same. It seems to feature three surfaces pointing to different directions. While we already talked about two of these three surfaces, the third one seems to be the small part on which the display flexes, and it may be used as a third mini-display showing the most important notifications such as incoming messages. For now, the Samsung device is still a patent, so it’s not clear whether such a design will ever become a reality.
However, from the schematics filed at the USPTO, it looks like a very interesting concept. It would not be the first phone with two displays released by Samsung in the past few years: we are obviously talking about the Galaxy Fold which comes with a 4.6-inch external display and the so-loved foldable screen internally. Not to mention the Samsung W2019 flip phone which featured two displays.
(Via)
