and all over Asia teams are hard at work making copies of the device outlined in the Patent. Who will be the first to get something on the market? When will Kuo forecast this to be included in the 2018 iPhone? Next week perhaps?
BTW, this looks like the cross section of an old 110 format film canister... ????
maybe Apple got inspired by this little rollable solar charger, that uses OPV (organic solar cells), instead of OLED. it's from here: http://heli-on.com/
And also, they have invented a brand new special protection device, in the form of a new type of shape dubbed a "cy-lin-der" with revolutionary opening in one end and a piece of additional material that can be placed in the opening to prevent falling out.
and all over Asia teams are hard at work making copies of the device outlined in the Patent. Who will be the first to get something on the market? When will Kuo forecast this to be included in the 2018 iPhone? Next week perhaps?
BTW, this looks like the cross section of an old 110 format film canister... ????
If I recall, I know they have presented a flexible OLED, which isnot entirely new, but the patent Apple has applied for is as stated, "Apple's proposed device is specifically designed to accommodate a retractable display."
Sorry, even for an Apple fan, I would find it ridiculous if the PTO grants this patent. This is just an assemblage of already existing technology including spring-loaded ratcheting roll-up window blinds which in tech years is older than Methuselah.
Inventions for the most part are assemblages of already existing technology (at least, when considered with enough granularity).
That said, if we were just talking about the idea of a display retracting into an enclosure - even one doing so using a rotating mechanism - then, yeah, I think that most likely wouldn't be patentable. But this patent application discloses considerably more detail relating to how such functionality might be accomplished. Is it patentable as claimed and, if so, which claims are? I don't know, I'm not familiar with what might be disclosed by prior art. But I can see where at least some of the claims might be patentable. We're talking about more than just the idea that a screen might be connected to two enclosures and roll out from and back into one of them.
Well, if this is Apple's ultimate plan for the iPad, I'm glad it's not going to happen for awhile. If ever. Cause Unless you're going to Mars, it really looks like a stupid design. But I guess there's a limit to how thin Apple can make the iPad, so a design like this was inevitable. Still, I seriously doubt it'd be anything but a niche product if it ever did become reality. I just don't see the practicality of such a device for the average user. So it would take up less space in your bag. Big whoop. How would you draw on it with an Apple Pencil? Or type on it while holding it? Or how would you keep a flexible screen sturdy while using it without having to lay it flat on the table? I'm all for pushing the envelope and innovating. That's always cool. But this just seems silly.
From my reading the patent application contemplates at least some embodiments wherein the display becomes rigid when it's in its fully extracted state.
Comments
It looks like some prototype polaroid canister cam¡
it's from here: http://heli-on.com/
Remember the Readius folding e-paper, e-reader, phone thing from 2008?
I'm tempted to say that the transparent, hologram phone slabs from the Expanse TV show is better than the rollable phones from EFC.
That said, if we were just talking about the idea of a display retracting into an enclosure - even one doing so using a rotating mechanism - then, yeah, I think that most likely wouldn't be patentable. But this patent application discloses considerably more detail relating to how such functionality might be accomplished. Is it patentable as claimed and, if so, which claims are? I don't know, I'm not familiar with what might be disclosed by prior art. But I can see where at least some of the claims might be patentable. We're talking about more than just the idea that a screen might be connected to two enclosures and roll out from and back into one of them.
From my reading the patent application contemplates at least some embodiments wherein the display becomes rigid when it's in its fully extracted state.