The US Patent and Trademark Office has published a new patent awarded to Microsoft that points out to an interesting future for fans of the Windows Phone 7 platform. The patent, which was files in March of last year, would enable easily swappable accessories for mobile phones that run Microsoft’s mobile operating system.
Microsoft’s new patent, called “Mobile communication device having multiple, interchangeable second devices,” features slider mobile phones that are designed to carry interchangeable accessories, such as a spare battery, keyboard or a game controller. The key advantage of such a device is that it would allow users to maximize the use of technical capabilities in a single device.
“Modern mobile phones have evolved over recent years to the point where they now possess a broad range of capabilities. They are not only capable of placing and receiving mobile phone calls, multimedia messaging (MMS), and sending and receiving email, they can also access the Internet, are GPS-enabled, possess considerable processing power and large amounts of memory, and are equipped with high-resolution color liquid crystal displays capable of detecting touch input,” read the patent application. “As such, today’s mobile phones are general purpose computing and telecommunication devices capable of running a multitude of applications. For example, modern mobile phones can run web browser, navigation system, media player and gaming applications.”
Gamerant reported that it could have a multi-player capability, as the patent mentions the ability for future phones to connect to a number of accessories at once. This will enable more than one user to play a game on the attached television or on the phone’s screen. It won’t be long before mobile phones can smoothly play Xbox games.
It may take on the Xperia Play, the first PlayStation-certified smartphone, which was launched in April.
The display can also be used as an external display to edit videos easier. It could also cover devices that communicate via various wireless protocols to interact with one another.
via: USPTO
