Samsung is one of the most popular smartphone makers around the world, and is always looking for new features to organize its devices apart from the others available on the market. Renderings have appeared online that seems to have art lines from Samsung patent applications that detail the possibility of movement control in the future integrated into folding smartphones. Images, all of which can be seen below, focus mainly on the button located on the smartphone side.
The patent was submitted on November 20 with the World of Intellectual Property Office and titled “Folding Electronic Devices.” This document is massive on 110 pages and is published on May 20, 2021. It describes a folding smartphone with the gesture function replacing all physical buttons. Samsung needs to find new ways to provide control to users by telephone because the folding device becomes thinner, making it difficult to get all the buttons needed on the device side.
The patent application describes the gesture system that uses taps and friction. When a device is folded, two housing parts are placed across from each other giving users to double the surface area to operate the virtual button. Users can also adjust the gesture function. Faucet movements can activate certain functions, such as power buttons, while users can set sliding movements to volume control.
The device can also recognize the function of extortion gesture which can be assigned to other smartphone functions. Samsung Electronics has recently been given a patent on the Galaxy Z flip smartphone using a virtual button. It is not surprising that Samsung wants to integrate the gesture function into its smartphone, and of course, other manufacturers will want to do the same.
It seems that Samsung can integrate this new functionality to the Galaxy Z folding 3 debut expected this August, or to the future version of the folding tablet. However, the patent does not say specifically what devices might use features or when it might be available.