Microsoft might be heading down novel road with its future generations of Windows phones. While currently handsets like the Xperia Play have to make some usability sacrifices if they want to deliver as gaming phones, a newly-revealed patent from Microsoft reveals a different idea: different keyboards and components that can be swapped out of the same smartphone chassis.
As you can see above, the phone in question has a slide-out section behind the screen, where we’d usually expect to find a physical keyboard (a la HTC Desire Z), but in this Windows phone there’s also what’s quite clearly an old school gamepad, an extra battery pack, and a… well, we’re not sure what that third one is. Something to do with cameras, though.
This isn’t the first modular concept we’ve seen from Microsoft. Back in July internet detectives unearthed another piece of fringe mobile design from Microsoft that featured a phone with a second detachable screen. The idea was apparently to use the first, bigger-screened bit as a mobile, while the other slimmer contraption would find a use as a sort of universal remote. Bonkers.
As with all off-the-wall patents that get uncovered, there’s very little actual chance that this latest Microsoft mobile will arrive in the shape or form pictured, but we’re glad to see any designs that show there could be a future beyond the touchscreen candy bars of today’s mobile market.
Source: Unwired View
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