Microsoft has been reported to have scrapped its plans to deliver a follow up to its Surface Duo 2 smartphone which released in late 2021, however, a recent patent filed by the company shows it’s not quite done with dreaming about handheld folding devices just yet.
Back in February of this year, Microsoft published its Foldable Computing Device Spine Cover Plate patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on the 29th. While Microsoft wasn’t explicit that the new device would be a smartphone, the patent application details suggest this new folding device would be roughly the size of original Surface Duo, if not slightly bigger.
Other design changes between the Foldable Computing Device Spine Cover Plate and the Surface Duo line are a new “single flexible display that is supported by the first display-supporting frame and the second display-supporting frame.” The first two Duo offerings from Microsoft came with two separate screens attached to a very sophisticated hinge, whereas this new patten suggest that Microsoft will follow Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold, OnePlus Open, and Google Pixel Fold with a single folding screen.
Another distinction between the Duo and Foldable Computing Device Spine Cover Plate is that the new device seems to be covering up its similar Surface Do hinge-spine engineering under a solid covering for a more discrete outward appearance as well as a dust and debris defender.
While the Surface Duo was never really a bulky device, the patented Foldable Computing Device Spine Cover Plate plans to leverage its new discrete hinge cover to close potential gaps as well as streamline the whole design to make the device feel smaller in the hand.
By retracting the spine cover plate toward the central spine as the first display-supporting frame and the second display-supporting frame are rotated into a face-to-face orientation, the width of the folded computing device is reduced, thereby enabling easier and more comfortable handling of the device, such as with one hand/
Microsoft
The engineering of the hinge mechanism remains Microsoft’s Surface lineup’s strongest attributes with the new hinge patent designed to use bump slides and guide pins to maintain its rigid yet fluid folding capabilities when folding unilaterally.
Unfortunately, Foldable Computing Device Spine Cover Plate exists as patent only with no indication that Microsoft plans to jump back into the mobile game anytime soon.
