Over the past few years, leading smartphone manufacturers have been paying more and more attention to the development and production of foldable devices with flexible displays. Samsung and Huawei have already released several production models, Apple is rumored to be testing similar devices, and Xiaomi has patented several different folding device designs. Now, Google patents have leaked on the web, showing the search giant's vision of what a foldable smartphone should be.
Patents numbered 2021/011949 and 2021/0018961, according to windowsunited.de, were filed by Google with the World Intellectual Property Organization last year. The first of these describes the concept used in devices such as the Huawei Mate XS. The smartphone considered in the patent has a cylindrical hinge in the central part and an outward folding screen. Notably, the hinge is quite thick, which may be an attempt to compensate for the display's large curvature.
The second patent describes a device more similar to the Samsung Galaxy Fold. In the central part of the smartphone, Google plans to place a hinge from many segments, allowing the device to fold with a small bend radius.
It is worth noting that the fact that Google has patented both common types of foldable smartphone designs indicates that the company has not yet decided in what form factor to release the device. However, the very fact of obtaining such patents is a good sign and may indicate that we will see foldable Pixels in the near future.
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