LG patent suggests a smartphone with a penta-camera is coming

The last internationally released five-camera-toting smartphone was HMD's Nokia 9 PureView. But this configuration got a refresh with the recent launch from Chinese company Xiaomi, who just unveiled the Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro/Xiaomi Mi Note 10. And if we follow this LG patent, it looks like the South Korean company wants a piece of the action, too.

The plans seem to have been a long time coming. The patent was filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization back in March 2018. It was only approved in May of this year. The cameras at the back look to be arranged with three lenses vertically and two lenses horizontally. There also looks to be an LED flash thrown in there at the center of the two lenses.

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Here's a look at Lenovo's double-folded 'clamshell' smartphone

Before we talk about anything, we're going to say that it's a patent, for now. But Lenovo hinted in the past that a foldable RAZR phone is in the works—and this might be what it looks like. In March last year, Lenovo filed a patent for a "flexible electronic device" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). It was a double-hinged folding phone design for the RAZR phone, and it was due for launch at this year's Mobile World Congress. But the deadline proved to be too tight to present the final product.

This week on September 10th, the patent was published in both the USPTO database and the World Intellectual Property Office Global Design Database. It shows 14 sketches of a folding phone with a clamshell design. The device comes with two separate hinges, letting you fold it in a way that shows the very top of the screen or to fold and show more of the display. The sketches show a thin device with rounded edges and small bezels. The upper bezel houses the front camera and speaker, while the bottom bezel has a secondary speaker. There looks like light-ribbed plastic material at the back along with the fingerprint sensor and a single rear camera. The RAZR phone is rumoured to come out in Europe between December 2019 and January 2020 for around €1500 (approx. CA$2,200).

Source: MSPowerUser 

Patent suggests Samsung’s developing a DeX accessory that connects phones to external displays wirelessly

If a recently filed patent is anything to go by, Samsung might be working on something new for its Desktop eXperience platform, or DeX as we’ve come to know it. The company filed a patent with the European Union Intellectual Property Office for “DeX Live.” While technical details for the patent are sparse, the application does mention wireless networks. This suggests Samsung might be cutting the cord when it comes to the next-generation DeX accessory. The current DeX Pad and DeX Station launched alongside the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus lets you connect your phones to a monitor using an HDMI cable.

Back in 2018, it was being speculated that the next-generation DeX would feature wireless technology. With the launch of the Galaxy Note 10 coming up, the recent patent application hints at the possibility of a wireless DeX accessory coming this year. And since the Note line is Samsung’s flagship device when it comes to productivity tools, the timing might make sense. How this is going to be implemented is something we don’t know right now. But we’re keeping our eyes and ears peeled for updates.

Source: WCCFTECH

Samsung patent toys with the idea of placing the camera in a stylus

Samsung has been able to stay notch-free in a notch-filled world. And it seems the company is toying with the idea of putting a camera with optical zoom capabilities into a stylus. Samsung filed a patent back in February 2017 and had it granted yesterday. According to said patent, the stylus would wirelessly send images back to the phone or tablet—which could be made possible since Note 9 already uses Bluetooth support for the S Pen stylus.

Putting the built-in camera into a stylus offers some benefits. By taking the camera out of the phone, there is the possibility of putting in optical zoom. The patent itself mentions an “optical zooming function” specifically. It also gives you more flexibility when it comes to taking photos, having the phone act as your viewfinder while you move the stylus around to suit your needs. We have to remind you that this is a patent though, so there is no guarantee that we’d be seeing this technology anytime soon.

Source: The Verge