Trifold Windows device envisioned in Intel patent

Jan 29, 2019 10:26 GMT  ·  By

Foldable devices are the next big thing in the technology industry, and after several companies expressed their intentions to invest in this category, patents show that the number of manufacturers potentially looking at similar products is much bigger.

Intel, for example, could be interested in developing its very own foldable device that looks, sounds, and feels a lot like Microsoft’s very own Surface Andromeda.

A patent discovered by LetsGoDigital and dating back to 2017 shows that Intel has envisioned a device not with just two screens, but with three of them.

Like Microsoft’s Andromeda, the trifold Intel device would change its form factor to adapt to users’ needs depending on the orientation of the screens.

Multiple form factors

For example, when all the three displays are folded, the device becomes a fully-featured phone. Expand one of the screens and you get two functional displays that allow you to use it as a laptop. And last, if all the three displays are in a fully flat position, you get a tablet with insane screen estate.

The device would run Windows 10 and would also support a stylus, so it could become just the perfect product for taking notes, drawing, or simply working at the office.

Of course, the idea sounds a lot like Microsoft’s, only that for the time being, neither Intel’s nor the software giant’s projects are believed to be in a final development stage. Andromeda was reportedly pushed back to the drawing board last year because Microsoft’s leadership team wanted a little bit more from this innovative idea, and it’s being speculated that the company could even kill it off completely if work doesn’t advance as planned.

For now, we’re still far away from the moment a foldable Windows device goes live, but if all these ideas reach the mass production, there’s no doubt both Intel and Microsoft would be part of the fun.

Photo Gallery (7 Images)

Render imagining Intel's foldable device
Render imagining Intel's foldable deviceRender imagining Intel's foldable device
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