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Microsoft now patents folding phone dock, but its not for the Surface Phone!

Microsoft has applied for a patent for a new ‘peripheral’ device, which will function as a smartphone and also an independent VoIP speaker for the PC.

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Microsoft has applied for a patent for a new ‘peripheral’ device, which will function as a smartphone and also an independent VoIP speaker for the PC.

According to a report by MSPowerUser, the clamshell device has been titled ‘User Input Peripheral’ and would feature notification lights and buttons which makes it easier to activate specific VOIP applications like Skype on an iPhone or PC. It is believed that the company intends to market the device to enterprise customers.

The patent also shows pictures wherein an iPhone s docked onto the device. This implies that the company might sell this as an iPhone accessory. Additionally, the device could be wired and tethered to your PC or wireless and connected by Bluetooth to your PC or phone, and for connected PCs would offer a notification feature even when your PC is sleeping.

Recently, Microsoft also filed a patent for a foldable dual-screen notebook– a two screen device that appears to work in a number of configurations – which looks similar to the company’s “Courier” concept. The Microsoft’s Courier, was first reported in 2008 but was abruptly cancelled in 2010.

First spotted by MSPowerUser, the patent for a “self-regulating hinge” shows a “pair of self-regulating hinge assemblies rotatably securing hinge ends of the first and second portions around a first hinge axis associated with the first portion and a second hinge axis associated with the second hinge axis so that an extent of rotation around the first hinge axis corresponds to an extent of rotation around the second hinge axis.”

The patent, filed at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), includes intricate details around how the hinge works. However, there isn’t much information provided about the software for such a device.

One image shows one half of the screen serving as a display while the other half has a virtual keyboard and trackpad. The second image shows off a device placed in a tent-like formation with its display showing an alarm clock.

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