14 DAY TRIAL // You might remember the Nook Color, not because it’s an innovative product, but because it comes featuring a pretty bizarre design quirk. The slate features a sort of key loop in one of the corners, which is there for no apparent reason.
Well we jest, the designers of the Nook Color were apparently looking to provide users with a better way of carrying the device, but I guess that didn’t catch on. We all know that the Nook line has been struggling to keep afloat and recent rumors had it that Barnes & Nobles fired the entire Nook hardware team, which turned out not to be the case, eventually.
But for some reason, tablet giant Samsung feels Nook’s design oddity is worthy to be taking into consideration for its future slate endeavors.
As SamMobile notes, a recent uncovered patent shows that Samsung might be focusing to develop a pretty strange-looking tablet, one that has a hole in it, reminiscent of the Nook Color mentioned above.
The patent has been filed with the US Patent Office recently and shows a design that brings Galaxy Tab design deja-vu back. Take a look at the sketches available and you’ll surely notice in one of the bottom corners the ringlet type hole we’ve been talking about.
Apart from that, the tablet looks to be very standard. One can spot the speakers, camera and S-Pen, so everything seems to point towards your typical Galaxy Tab experience.
Sadly, the patent doesn't provide any information about what the purpose of the hole might be, if it has something to do with functionality or it’s just there as part of the overall design.
So, that only leaves us speculating. The mystery hole might find a function in a kiddie-friendly tablet. Surely, the slate will have to come sporting a smaller screen size, most likely of 7 inches.
Such a colorful slate might be a pretty big hit in Asian markets, where phone dangler toys are pretty popular. So why not provide an interesting customization option to kids, allowing them to attach their furry charms to their tablets.
But there’s another theory. Barnes & Nobles have been said to be working on a new Nook tablet and since they haven’t specified which outside manufacturer they will be partnering with to bring the device to life, maybe we’re looking at the next Nook here?
Of course, the fact that Samsung has patented an idea doesn't necessarily mean we’re going to see the actual product arrive into the wild and sell. And even if such a slate makes it onto Asian markets, there’s no certainty that it will be sold on the international market as well.
