Patent pictures show Microsoft is still trying to build a dual screen device
0Patent pictures show Microsoft is still trying to build a dual screen device.
It's eight years since we first heard rumors of Microsoft's Courier, a kind of dual-screen tablet that folded in half like a book, designed for note-taking and sketching and similar tasks. Courier was never officially acknowledged, but in 2010 word got out that it was cancelled.
But as patent applications show, Microsoft is continuing to work on the dual screen, folding concept. In January, a trifold design with a flexible screen and multiple hinges was patented. Over the last week, yet more new patents have been granted, again showing devices with either multiple or folding screens, and in the very latest, complex hinging mechanisms. This time, the devices pictured have a single hinge and a two-part screen, much like the Courier concept.
At the same time, rumors continue to swirl that Microsoft is working on a hardware product codenamed "Andromeda" that will be some kind of a folding, portable device, released in either 2018 or 2019. Patent applications have revealed details of Microsoft hardware before—we learned that the company was working on an all-in-one, the Surface Studio, through patents—and so taking the patents and Andromeda rumors together, it seems inevitable that the company is working on something like this.
The rumors also cover the software side of things to an extent. Microsoft is continuing to work on unifying the Windows platform. The kernel and other core components have been substantially integrated, and now the focus has been on the shell and other user interface components. Currently, each Windows variant—desktop/tablet, phone, HoloLens, and even Xbox—has its own unique user interface code. Over the last year, Windows Central has reported that, at the very least, the desktop, tablet, and phone interfaces are being unified into a single shell known as CShell.