14 DAY TRIAL // Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia might have sold its handset division to Microsoft, but it does not want to leave the mobile field entirely, it seems.
In fact, the company, which already holds an impressive portfolio of patents in the mobile space, is continuing its research in the area, and is looking to patent new technologies, it seems.
The latest of them (patent WO2014/029906A1) comes in the form of active bezels, which could make it inside the company’s future smartphones in the not too distant future. Moreover, they might be included on tablets as well, it seems.
Usually, bezels, nothing else than the area surrounding the screen of mobile phones, are inactive, though they house buttons, sensors, and the like, as NokiaPowerUser notes.
They are also there to allow users to get a better grip of the device, though they do sometimes affect the active display area, making it smaller, and this is exactly what Nokia points out in the aforementioned patent.
The company explains that, while said bezels are there to help users through housing buttons and facilitating handling of the device without inadvertently touching the screen, they could make viewing of certain content more difficult in some cases by diminishing the display real estate.
However, the company is looking at ways to change that, allowing for bezels to become active, thus including a series of features that will compensate for taking up screen. However, there will be specific actions that need to be performed for the bezel to become active, it seems.
“A force component of the touch input may be detected and compared to a predetermined force threshold. In cases in which the force component of the touch input exceeds the predetermined force threshold, user interaction with the content at that location may be enabled,” Nokia explains.
“In this way, the force exerted by the user in applying a touch input in the bezel area may be considered an indication of the user’s intent to interact with corresponding content within the bezel, and such interactions may be provided for accordingly.”
Depending on the manner in which the device is being used, the bezel may or may not be needed, the same as the functionality that could be included in it, Nokia also adds.
“Accordingly, embodiments of an apparatus, method, and computer program product are described that provide for an active digital bezel area on a display of a device in instances in which the bezel is determined to be needed, where the configuration of the bezel area is determined so as to enhance the user’s interaction with the device display based on how the user is currently using the device.”
Bezels can also be configured so as to stay active only for a period of time, it seems. Said patent also unveils that the device could also be configured to offer feedback (visual or haptic indication) on the bezel becoming active.
For the time being, however, there's no telling whether Nokia will indeed include this technology inside its upcoming smartphones and tablets, nor when exactly it might do so. However, should this feature be intended for commercial use, we'll hear more of it soon, that's for sure.