Back in June of this year we posted two reports about Samsung patents covering bendable displays for wearable computers and tablets. Last week Samsung filed yet another bendable related patent. This time around their emphasis is on a future Galaxy smartphone. The filing presents a number of new ideas of how they could use their bendable display region that the note as a sub-display.
Samsung's Patent Background
Recent mobile terminals have been developed based on a mobile convergence trend including the traditional communication field and other advanced fields. A portable terminal performs various functions, such as a voice call, an image display, a message transmission (such as a Short Message Service (SMS)/a Multimedia Message Service (MMS)), and the like. Moreover, a portable terminal has been developed to serve as a multi-purpose device and thus may include an electronic organizer, a camera, an e-mail transceiver, a broadcasting playback device, a moving image playback device, an Internet browsing device, an electronic commerce device, a music playback device, a schedule management device, a Social Networking Service (SNS) device, a messenger, and the like. In addition, a recent portable terminal performs various services, such as a friend finder, a messenger, a dictionary, and the like.
Recently, a portable terminal having a bended display implemented by coupling a flexible display with the portable terminal as well as the flexible display has been spotlighted. The flexible display is a display which may be freely folded and unfolded. The bended display is a display where a bent shape may be maintained in consideration of a design. More particularly, in recent years, the portable terminal having the bended display has been studied and developed. However, there has been no progress in the development of an outer appearance of a portable terminal having a bended display as well as research for improving function control of the portable terminal using the bended display.
Therefore, there is a need for a portable terminal capable of extending a display region to both of a front surface and a side surface of the portable terminal by implementing a bended display at the portable terminal, and a method of operating functions thereof.
Samsung's Bendable Display for Smartphones
Aspects of Samsung's latest bendable display invention address at least the above-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention is to provide a portable terminal capable of extending a display region to both of a front surface and a side surface of the portable terminal by implementing a bended display at the portable terminal, and a method of operating functions thereof.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a portable terminal having a bended display divided into a main region of a front surface and a sub-region of a side of the portable terminal and supporting function control and function display of the portable terminal in connection with the main region and the sub-region, and a method of operating the same.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a portable terminal having a bended display capable of allowing a user to approach information associated with a screen displayed on a main region using a sub-region of the bended display and improving usability and operation of a user for controlling functions of the portable terminal using the sub-region, and a method of operating functions thereof.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a method of operating functions of a portable terminal having a bended display is provided. The method includes receiving an input of an event, determining a type of the input event. outputting event information, according to an internal event input based on the bended display, through at least one of a main region and a sub-region of the bended display when the input event is the internal event, and outputting event information, according to an external event input from an outside source, through the sub-region of the bended display when the input event is the external event.
Samsung's patent figures 5 and 6 illustrate the device locking mechanism is place on the sub-display located on the side of the device.
Samsung's patent FIG. 10 noted above illustrates a screen of an electronic book application with chapters by number listed on the side or sub-display. The same idea is presented in patent figure 11 in the form of touch tabs that the user could identify for easy reference.
Considering that Samsung mentions the incorporation of broadcast signals for television, it may be possible that that side or sub-display could list your favorite channels. The sub-display area could also be used as a continuous scroll bar for content on the main display.
Samsung filed their patent application back in Q2 2013 in the US and a year earlier in Korea. Considering that this is a patent application, the timing of such a product to market is unknown at this time.
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