Divisive
As the PC and telco industries combine, their protagonists are getting increasingly tempted to dabble in areas they've traditionally left alone. For example we have Nokia making a netbook and Google branding a smartphone.
Doing the rounds on the web recently has been a patent filing from phone chip giant Qualcomm, which has been looking to barge its way into the PC market via devices using its Snapdragon processor. It has been expected to leave it to the likes of Lenovo and HP to produce the devices, but this patent filing implies otherwise.
It shows a three screen device, linked together by two hinges. The thinking behind it seems to be that, with all three being touchscreens, you can configure the device in a number of different ways, with one of the screens functioning as a keyboard if you want.
Here's what the first paragraph of the filing says: An electronic device comprising:a first panel having a first display surface and a first back surface;a second panel having a second display surface and a second back surface;a third panel having a third display surface and a third back surface, wherein the first panel is rotatably coupled to a first edge of the second panel and wherein the third panel is rotatably coupled to a second edge of the second panel;a folding configuration sensor configured to detect a configuration of the first panel, the second panel, and the third panel; and a processor configured to execute at least one software application having a graphical user interface, the processor responsive to the folding configuration sensor to modify the graphical user interface based on the detected configuration.
So there you go. Here's an image.
