Sony Ericsson files patent for "detachable housings"

by Chris Ziegler, posted Feb 6th 2008 at 3:55AM

It's hard enough for some of us to go a few months without losing a one-piece cellphone, but imagine the hilarity that'll ensue if Sony Ericsson makes good on a recent patent application to break 'em into multiple pieces? The basic idea is to make the phone's body independent of the display itself, and while the app doesn't do a particularly stellar job of explaining why this is valuable, we gather from the drawings and diagrams that you'd flip the screen between front and back depending on whether you're using the phone in the open or closed position. The pivoting clamshell design in devices like Samsung's FlipShot seems a lot more robust to us, but then again, probably 75 percent of these patent apps never become actual products, so we won't worry about it too much just yet.

[Via Unwired View]

Filed under: Sony Ericsson, Misc

Tags: detachable, display, ericsson, housing, patent, sony, sony ericsson, SonyEricsson

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Vikram @ Feb 6th 2008 5:36AM

this is a nice patent by Sony Ericsson but I think it is of no use.

Neutral

Prior Art @ Feb 6th 2008 8:00AM

http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=33796

Neutral

DssTrainer @ Feb 6th 2008 3:23PM

I think it's brilliant! As long as they keep all the "brains" in the screen part. People who whine about getting new handsets can simple pull out of one case and pop into another.. if done right you could swap between a candybar phone for day time and a flip phone at night.

Keep it up sammy!

Neutral

Oscar Kafati @ Feb 6th 2008 3:44PM

I imagine this is so you can replace pieces separately. upgrade your phone but keep your current screen (or vice versa) and presumably it won't cost an arm and a leg. The more modular the better (as long as it doesn't break up into component pieces every time I drop it).

Neutral

InfinityFlex @ Feb 7th 2008 3:30PM

Umm... Can anyone say Modu? Sure looks like the same thing to me.

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