While we are still awaiting the next Galaxy Tab S tablet from Samsung, the company is laying the groundwork for future tablets with this interesting new patent that depicts a tablet with a built-in stand (via phoneArena).
Given that many tablet owners put a case on their tablet in order to both protect it and to add a stand that will allow them to consume or create content without keeping the tablet in their hands, it's an interesting addition. But let's take a closer look at exactly what Samsung is patenting here.
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The patent and images were filed with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) and it's a unique design to say the least.
The front of the tablet is reasonably straightforward with a buttonless face as you would expect for a modern tablet and the front-facing camera positioned at the top of the screen when viewed in landscape position.
The hinge is where things start to get interesting, it certainly appears like the stand/back portion is not removable with a speaker, charging port and microSD or SIM slot all located along the edge. Similar to the design of Samsung's Galaxy Fold smartphone, the two sides cannot fold flat together. The images always depict the tablet in its stand position, so it's impossible to tell how much of a gap would exist, but suffice to say that there would be the space big enough to see through near the hinge.
Turning to the back of the device, it is simply a rigid pane of material to serve as a stand, confirmed by the existence of a large circular hole in its center. Presumably, this is to help save weight.
While the concept of a built-in stand in a tablet seems like a reasonable proposition, it's hard to imagine that this particular implementation from Samsung will make it into a production tablet. However, it's good to see Samsung continuing to invest in tablet research and development and perhaps something from this design will make it's way into a future Samsung tablet or foldable.
