This could be Intel's first foldable smartphone

Intel is one of the major tech companies that are currently working on foldable technology. The company already showed the progress it’d made in the technology by showcasing Horseshoe Bend prototype, a 17.3 inch folding laptop. But the efforts are not limited to developing foldable PCs, the company is equally focussed on developing foldable smartphones that can be transformed into a tablet, like the Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X.

A patent filed by Intel and published by KIPRIS (Korean Intellectual Property Office) gives us some insight into what its foldable smartphone might look like. According to the patent, it will feature a wrap-around display, which will, of course, be flexible. You’ll be able to fold as well as extend the display of the patented smartphone.

As stated by Letsgodigital:

Folded, the screen is on the outside. The display extends through the right-hand side to the entire rear. The screen edges are very thin, the entire device consists of screen surface, giving the device an extremely modern design. At the bottom there is a wide button, by pressing this you can unfold the mobile device.

When unfolded, the left-hand part is slightly thicker than the right-hand side, this is because the housing – with all necessary components – is on the left-hand side. The housing is also extremely thin. It is not clear from the patent images where the cameras will be integrated. Nevertheless, this foldable Intel smartphone / tablet looks extremely ingenious and multifunctional.

This isn’t the first time Intel is showing a foldable smartphone patent. Intel applied for a foldable smartphone patent back in mid-2017 — the patented smartphone features a tri-fold design. For the sake of comparison, the latest patented Intel foldable smartphone will be thinner than the tri-fold designed foldable phone as you won’t have multiple folds in the former.