We are used to seeing impossible or almost impossible smartphones. In fact, recently Oppo, to make us a beautiful April Fool, showed us his Oppo Infinity: a smartphone without visible front camera, and therefore invisible, with "Airplane" type wireless charging with variable power 5 / 10W and many other features that are neither in heaven nor on earth. On the other hand, however, Xiaomi delighted us with the Mi Mix Alpha, a smartphone of the future in all respects. What if he had in mind something that is halfway between the two? This patent shows us a really gorgeous device... at least in our opinion.
Xiaomi could think of a device with an invisible display camera and edges to the Mi Mix Alpha
Unlike the Mi Mix Alpha, this time the device does not have a surround display and therefore the screen does not end up in the back, but almost. In fact, the left and right sides are covered almost completely by the display but without going behind. Let's see the pictures together.
At the end of September 2019, Xiaomi filed a patent with the Chinese patent office, the CNIPA, to introduce a completely new smartphone design. The patent was published on 3 April 2020, after which it was included in the Global Design Database of the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office).
From what we can see, the futuristic device in question stands, at the design level, as a hybrid between Xiaomi Mi 10 and Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha. From the first it undoubtedly resumes the rounded edges and minimum chin, while from the second the progress of the display up to extreme levels. The document shows a corner rounding angle of 90 ° (commonly known as waterfall) where the screen extends. The peculiarity of this design is that the smartphone information is also shown on the glass edges, but above all that they are the physical keys are absent on each side. Presumably to turn it on or to use special commands we can use only the touch input.
One of the conveniences this type of display can bring is a 100% use. To understand what we mean, see the images above: the screen, during use, is not contaminated by written schedules or field availability. This will ensure that the display space is used in a more optimized way. According to reports from the source, when they open uses multimedia type, these they appear on the edges as it is easier to interact with them if they are in this position: for example it is easier to skip the song that we are listening to with the music player through a tap of the thumb.
Unfortunately the patent only shows us the user interface and tells us nothing about the front and rear cameras. We can assume, however, since it is a patent, that these are in-display type: clearly we are not talking about those integrated in the screen, with hole, but about those invisible ones hiding just below it. We know that Xiaomi is working to implement this type of technology on its smartphones but that has not yet succeeded. Oppo is also doing the same type of experiments even though he showed us a preview, some time ago, of a prototype.
Also from the point of view of functionality, and therefore of the user interface, there are important limitations. We know in fact that you have to study a type of MIUI "special". It will not be possible to use the MIUI that we know on this type of smartphones. If you remember, Xiaomi developers are also studying a for Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha particular type of operating system where the user interface is optimized for curved displays.
In any case it is a patent and it is plausible that we will never see it.
Source | Leadsgodigital
