14 DAY TRIAL // South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung Electronics is gearing up for the unveiling of its next handset in the popular Galaxy Note lineup, one that might land on shelves as Galaxy Note 4, and some info on its possible outer design has emerged online.
A patent application that has recently been spotted online shows that Samsung is actively working on the release of smartphones with displays stretching around the edges, and Galaxy Note 4 could be one of those devices.
While no official confirmation on the matter has been provided on the matter, SamMobile notes that the handset vendor has recently confirmed that the upcoming phone will sport a different form factor, and the patent application mentioned above might have already unveiled it.
Furthermore, we should note that Samsung has already showcased prototype devices with three-sided curved displays, which suggests that the assumption that Galaxy Note 4 could include such a screen might not be far-fetched.
However, this also means that Samsung will have to adopt the curved-display technology for the new device (the company has already released a curved handset, in the form of Galaxy Round).
The patent application also unveils a device concept, though there’s little chance that the Galaxy Note 4 will look as sketched there.
What the device in the concept shows is a display that does not fold only to the phone’s edge, but also to its back, on both sides.
Samsung has already been said to have been working with handsets that would sport screens wrapped around their edges, though it has not provided specific info on when we might see them released on the market as of now.
Previous phones in the Galaxy Note series were made official in the past years around September, and the new handset might suffer a similar fate in 2014.
With Galaxy Note 3 launched at IFA in Berlin in 2013, we might see Galaxy Note 4 and its new form factor being officially introduced at the same trade fair this year, despite the lack of confirmation on the matter.
Until more on this is made official, you can have a look at the aforementioned patent application (PDF link) that galaxyclub.nl has found online, to make a better idea of what Samsung might have in store for us next.