14 DAY TRIAL // Tablets such as the Surface Pro 3 or the Lenovo Yoga bunch arrive with a feature that differentiates them from other similar devices offered on the market. They come with a built-in stand which allows them to sit up like a mini monitor.
This feature is extremely useful especially with tablets that adopt a larger form factor. For example, the Samsung Galaxy NotePRO 12.2 doesn’t feature a built-in stand, and because it's a 12.2-inch device, sometimes it proves to be pretty tedious to use. But a new uncovered patent seems to indicate that Samsung is looking to introduce this feature into its future models.
Patently Mobile discovered three design patents granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that outline two different designs for integrated kickstands.
Samsung wants to make larger tablets easier to use
The first one shows us a tablet computer with a thin kickstand located on the back. Interestingly enough, the device also has a pull-out handle at the top, which means that the slate can also be carried around like a briefcase of sorts.
The second case design looks pretty reminiscent of the Surface Pro 3 and is being described as an “all-in-in-one computer.” The patent in question shows the kickstand being set into action by deploying the bottom of the rear of the tablet to provide a fully-fledged kickstand to prop the device up.
It’s intriguing to see Samsung copying the kickstand of the Surface Pro 3, which can only make us wonder: Is Samsung looking to produce a Windows 10 tablet? So far, the Korean tech giant has been focusing on Android while its slate products are concerned. But once Windows 10 makes a debut into the wild, wouldn’t it be great to see Samsung push out a real competitor to the Surface Pro 3?
However, take into consideration that just because this design has showed up in a patent doesn’t mean that the Korean tech giant will actually end up producing such a device.
Samsung has been quite silent in terms of premium tablet models as of late. The company has unveiled a bunch of middle-range slates, but we’re still expecting to see the second-gen Galaxy Tab S lineup.
Last month, a mystery Intel-based Samsung tablet with 4GB of RAM and Android 5.1 Lollipop has been spotted making an appearance in benchmarks.
