Tag Archives: Sarang Sheth

Completely absurd patent by Vivo shows a smartphone with its own built-in tiny drone camera

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What will they think of next? A smartphone that can 3D print?? (Okay scratch that, that would actually be pretty awesome)

Just last week (Friday to be specific), LetsGoDigital uncovered this rather outrageous patent filed by Chinese phone manufacturer Vivo at the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) showcasing a phone with its own drone camera. Sort of like how Marvel superhero Falcon had his own flying sidekick ‘Redwing’, Vivo’s phone had its own mini-drone that could pop out on command and click photos at you from any vantage point.

Sliding cameras on smartphones aren’t new, although Vivo’s concept takes it a couple of notches ahead. The patent shows a phone with a massive pop-out tray on the front. Within it, sits a tiny drone (sort of like the Air Selfie Drone from AirPix but smaller) with four propellers and a bunch of cameras and sensors. Fire your camera app and the tray instantly pops out and the drone takes off. A front-facing camera on the drone’s body lets you click photos (either of yourself or of landscapes) from a variety of vantage points, going above and beyond what your smartphone camera and your outstretched hand can do. Given how small drones, it isn’t entirely an idea I can actually dismiss… although what would Vivo’s marketing team call it? A Dronephone? A Smartdrone? A Phdrone?!

Practicality aside, the tech isn’t too far-fetched. The drone fits right into the phone’s slightly thick body, and comes with dual portrait-mode cameras on the top (that directly face you when the tray pops out), a main camera on the front (that works as the drone’s eyes), and IR sensors on the left and right that help the drone detect and avoid objects. The presence of cameras on the drone mean Vivo’s smartphone doesn’t need any cameras at all. This means no front-facing camera and a clean notch-less hole-punch-less display, as well as no massive camera bump on the back. The smartphone is a complete monolith of glass, metal, and screen, punctuated by a charging port and a set of buttons. The drone tray sits flush against the phone when closed, and pops up only when you fire up the camera app. (I’m assuming the app has drone controllers built in too)

Now let’s argue practicality from both sides of the argument. There’s a fair amount of evidence to say that this is a terrible idea. Moving components on a smartphone are historically the first to fail – Dust gets stuck in it, components wear out, parts accidentally break. The presence of a drone would mean saying goodbye to water-resistance, and there’s also a high chance your drone can get lost or stolen, leaving you with absolutely no camera (that’s if Vivo implements something exactly like this). Not to mention the fact that it practically means the end of privacy as we know it. (Imagine hundreds and thousands of drones flying around in every public space, or worse, or a drone entering a private space).

That being said, drone photography is truly the final frontier in consumer photography. The smartphone camera is already comparable to a DSLR, so now imagine being able to point that camera from any vantage point. You could take distant selfies without selfie sticks, sunsets from inside your house, and get better photos at concerts. It’s safe to assume that the drone would have a rather small battery (given its size), but one could easily make the argument that the drone could also wirelessly charge while docked inside the phone). As far as safety and privacy go, companies could build safeguards and throttles into the drone, preventing it from flying too far from its smartphone. There’s a lot to discuss and unpack here, although at the end of the day, fair reminder – this is just a patent and it’s likely that we won’t see anything like this for at least a couple of years. It’s fun to dream though…

Designer/Visualizer: Sarang Sheth for LetsGoDigital

This concept was first published on LetsGoDigital. Click here to view the original piece.

Radical Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Tab patent shows a two-part folding screen + magnetic S-Pen docking area

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It’s slowly becoming pretty clear that Samsung wants to be the dominant player in the foldables market. We’ve seen Motorola, Xiaomi, Huawei, Royole, and even the oddball TCL try their hands at folding devices, but none of them have invested the amount of time and effort as Samsung has. Based on a patent filing uncovered by LetsoGoDigital and rendered by Sarang Sheth, here’s a look at the Galaxy Z Fold Tab, a Note-style smartphone with 2 hinges and a nifty ‘crawl-space’ to dock and charge your S-Pen. The Z Fold Tab hopes to form a third device in Samsung’s line-up alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 3, which are set to launch this year – in effect consolidating Samsung’s position in a questionable yet rather interesting foldable-devices market.

The Z Fold Tab concept takes on the avatar of a folding device with an outward screen. However, unlike the Huawei Mate X or any of Royole’s Flexpai devices, the Z Fold Tab comes with two hinges on its massive screen, creating a novel folding format that has a rather interesting set of pros as well as cons. In its closed mode, the Z Fold Tab can obviously be used as a regular smartphone (albeit being slightly thicker) with a waterfall display on both left and right edges thanks to the folding screens (this obscures the volume and power buttons, but those could easily be translated to the screen via force-touch like in the Vivo Apex 2019). However, unfold the screens on either side and you have yourself a larger tablet. The obvious cons are that instead of one crease running across the screen, you’re now faced with TWO creases, however, given how we consume content and the amount of time we spend looking at centrally aligned elements, this format oddly works, because the two creases sit on the sides of the screen rather than along the center.

The foldable design comes with a unique detail. The two halves leave a distinct gap when folded completely, solving two purposes – the gap exposes the main camera lenses, enabling you to take photos and videos without worrying about unfolding your phone; and the gap even acts as a safe space to magnetically dock your S-Pen. Unlike previous Note devices that came with hollow slots that allowed you to slide an S-Pen into the phone, the Z Fold Tab lets the S-Pen dock outside, almost like the iPad Pro. The magnetic dock charges the S-Pen while that comfy gap prevents the pen from accidentally sliding out or getting lost.

The Galaxy Z Fold Tab is not unlike the Z Fold 3 concept we featured last year, however, its key difference is that the two-part hinges don’t overlap to form a 3-layered device. Even when folded, the Z Fold Tablet still remains relatively slim by foldable standards.

For now, however, the Z Fold Tab exists only in conceptual form, protected by an international patent filed by Samsung. The Korean consumer-tech giant is slated to host its annual Galaxy Unpacked event in August this year, although according to analysts and experts, we’re probably only going to see the Z Fold 3 and the Z Flip 3 devices this year along with the usual suspects. According to LetsGoDigital, Samsung may have this under wraps until 2022.

Designer/Visualizer: Sarang Sheth for LetsGoDigital

This concept was first published on LetsGoDigital. Click here to view the original piece.

This iPhone case gives your smartphone the Apple Mac Pro ‘cheesegrater’ texture

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“Never knock an idea until you actually try it.”

My opinion on the 2019 Mac Pro has aged pretty well, I’d say. Sure, my reaction (which came just moments after the design was released) may have been premature, and so were the memes that followed the debut of the ‘cheesegrater Mac’… but even now, 2 years down the line, it feels slightly cathartic to know that my opinion hasn’t really changed – the 2019 Mac Pro still looks visibly odd and sort of gets my skin crawling.

Recently though, the media discovered a patent for an iPhone that used the ‘cheesegrater’ texture for efficient cooling or thermal transmission, and let’s just say, people weren’t happy. Some even legitimately debunked it as an April Fool’s Prank from Apple. My thoughts on the matter weren’t any different – it sounds like a terrible idea, but I thought the best thing to do would be to really give Apple the benefit of the doubt and MAKE a cheesegrater iPhone just so I have something to visually judge it by.

Presenting, the ‘Cheesegrater’ Case for the iPhone 12 Pro. Made from a TPE bumper and a machined aluminum backplate, the case puts the familiar cheesegrater texture on the back of the iPhone to help it cool more efficiently (well at least in theory). In theory, it’s also perfectly suited to mince cloves of garlic or grate some Parmigiano Reggiano.

Now that we have a (sort of) clear vision of what the cheesegrater texture would look like on an iPhone, let’s objectively and subjectively judge this. For starters, it just looks like a really bad idea. Objectively speaking, a textured metal body would most certainly trap dirt, dust, pieces of lint, aside from also preventing the phone from wirelessly charging. The current textured metal plate is 1mm thick, and for any sort of texture, you’d need 3D depth which adds unnecessary thickness to the phone – something Apple probably won’t want to do. Subjectively speaking, the texture looks worse on the iPhone than on the Mac Pro (although it may also be my execution). Apple’s patent file states “the components of the electronic device may be designed to provide a unique and pleasing look and feel for a user”, a purpose that gets defeated when even Digital Trends calls it “Apple’s worst-ever design idea”. Moreover, at that scale, the texture could actually be used as a garlic press or a microplane for grating hard cheeses, which makes it difficult to take seriously when the texture is on a $1200 flagship smartphone. Let’s not even get into the ‘trypophobia’ angle.

My opinions aside, it seems like a weird idea for Apple to take such an extreme route for “enhanced levels of heat removal”. What exactly is the iPhone doing that it would even need desktop-grade heat removal? Is Apple going all-in on AR, or is it looking to put more powerful Apple-built silicone chips in their new iPhones? We’ll never really know. All we can say with a certain degree of confidence is that a ‘Cheesegrater’ iPhone isn’t really a great idea…

If you really want to make your own ‘Cheesegrater’ iPhone case, you can download the 3D files by clicking here.

Designer/Visualizer: Sarang Sheth

Apple patent reveals a new type of Pencil with replaceable nibs for different creative applications

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Watch out, Wacom and Adobe! In a new patent granted to Apple by the US Patent and Trademark Office, the company is reportedly looking at a next-generation Apple Pencil with swappable nib modules. While the patent doesn’t exclusively outline what these nibs would look like or be used for, it focuses more on the underlying technology, which would allow nibs to connect to the pencil handle via a special lightning-style connector.

The Apple Pencil is arguably the iPad Pro‘s secret sauce. Along with the Pencil, the iPad Pro becomes the ultimate creator’s setup (for both 2D as well as 3D creation). It would therefore make sense to explore how the Pencil could further become a ‘power-user’ tool, allowing creators to unlock new potentials. Yanko Design has imagined what these new nibs could look like, with explorations for more niche 2D uses. The interchangeable nibs include a fine-tip nib, a chisel nib, and a flexible brush-pen nib. Other nib styles could unlock 3D modeling features like being able to sculpt on the iPad.

While the current Apple Pencil has features like tilt recognition and pressure sensitivity, allowing it to function as any sort of drawing tool, the presence of a specialized nib helps seamlessly replicate the tactile experience of, say, drawing with a brush pen or a chisel marker. Moreover, the ability to replace nibs essentially increases the lifespan of the Pencil by allowing you to replace nibs when they wear down after constant use. “The filing suggests the nib could contain several different sensors for varying purposes. The component list includes tactile sensors, contact sensors, capacitive and touch sensors, a camera, a piezoelectric sensor, a pressure sensor, or a photodiode”, reports Apple Insider.

Designer/Visualizer: Sarang Sheth

Patent via: USPTO

Apple accessory manufacturer confirms AirTags design by releasing cover-case photos

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It seems like the AirTag announcement from Apple is beyond just grapevine gossip at this point. Companies like Samsung and Oppo have both released designs for their own tagging chips, hinting at healthy competition, and now an Apple accessory maker has inadvertently leaked the news out. A listing on mobile accessory maker Cyrill’s website shows what they’re calling the Apple AirTag Strap — a small keyring-style case designed to hold the rumored Apple “AirTags.”

The keyring case is ideal for the AirTags, which are roughly coin-sized. The tags slide right into their leather casing, while a flap and press-stud shuts to enclose the circular tag within. On the other end of Cyrill’s AirTag Strap is a ring to store your keys or USB sticks. The idea is to pair the AirTags with your phone, which then lets you keep track of your keys and other belongings using the “Find My” feature. Given its coin-like shape, the AirTags could easily be kept in your wallet too, ensuring you never lose a belonging again.

Designer: Cyrill
Visualized Renders: Sarang Sheth

Xiaomi patents indicate they are working on a smartphone with a sliding display

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It seems like flexible displays have finally found their place in the smartphone world. Folding phones haven’t been their best application (because folding screens leave a crease behind, and result in thicker phones), but sliding/rolling displays seem to be an interesting approach that allows phones to have larger screens in smaller, thinner bodies. LG, Oppo, and TCL have all indicated they’re working on smartphones with rollable scroll-inspired displays, and according to a new patent discovered by LetsGoDigital, Xiaomi seems to be working on a rollable display smartphone too.

The conceptual Xiaomi phone uses the sliding mechanism and flexible display to its advantage. The design comes with virtually no bezel on the front, and the display cascades off the base (like a waterfall), transitioning to the back and turning into a secondary display that works with the main camera. Upon command (either through a voice command or a tap on the screen), the front of the phone slides downwards and reveals the front-facing camera setup on the top. It includes the selfie camera, as well as an ambient light sensor, a distance sensor, and a dot projector. The receiver is also hidden behind the slider display.

This dual-screen dual-camera opens the Xiaomi slider concept up to quite a few use-cases. The larger screen on the front can be used for selfies, facial-unlock, and even video conferencing, while the smaller screen on the back can act as a viewfinder for more elaborate group photos, videos, etc. For visualization purposes, the sliding concept contains the quad-camera module from the Mi10 Pro.

Designer/Visualizer: Sarang Sheth in partnership with LetsGoDigital

This concept was first published on LetsGoDigital. Click here to view the original piece.

Apple’s new MacBooks may have wireless charging surfaces built into them

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It seems like Apple’s plans of not including charging cables with their iPhones may just make a little more sense, considering what they’re building their laptops to do. In patent files recently uncovered by Patently Apple, the company is rumored to be working on integrating wireless charging surfaces into their future MacBooks. According to the patents, charging zones on either side of the trackpad, and even at multiple locations on the lid, will be able to charge a whole variety of Apple products, from the iPhone to the AirPods, Apple Watch, and even probably future iterations of the iPad.

Apparently, we have the new M1 chips to thank for this, and their ability to pull off all this heavy-lifting and power delivery. The filing describes how multiple charging coils could be placed inside both the frame AND lid of a MacBook “that could accommodate charging of multiple devices at one time”. Combine this with some iteration of Apple’s new MagSafe technology and your MacBook, whether closed or open, could be the dedicated charging surface for most of your Apple peripherals. It’s an elegant solution that even does a hat-tip to user behavior patterns, where people already keep their iPhones and AirPods around their laptops while they work. Now these devices have dedicated spaces for charging right ON your laptop… and you don’t need a SINGLE cable. The powerful new MacBook got even more powerful!

It’s a good thing that AirPower Mat didn’t work out, huh…

Designer/Visualizer: Sarang Sheth

Image Credits: Sarang Sheth for Yanko Design
Patent discovered by: Patently Apple

Samsung is rumored to be working on a dual-hinge folding Galaxy smartphone with a sliding keyboard!

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Based on a patent filed in mid-2018 at the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), which was uncovered only recently by the fine folks at LetsGoDigital, Samsung is reported to be working on a folding smartphone with a dual-hinge and a slide-out keyboard that bridges the gap between phone and laptop, but most importantly, fulfills the ‘Z’ element of the Z Fold product-line. LetsGoDigital has christened this the Galaxy Z Fold 3, and here’s what visualizations of the rumored product look like! Scroll down for a detailed look.

It’s safe to say that Samsung would eventually stumble across a dual-hinge folding phone. They’ve experimented with single-hinge phones in both vertical and horizontal formats, and it’s only natural that the company would make one with an even larger screen and with two hinges to rival Xiaomi’s efforts in this department. Meet the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 concept… It actually folds in the shape of the letter Z, and comes with one singular screen that cascades from the inside to the out, unlike previous folding models that had a dedicated external display and a folding internal one. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 works out the hinges in a way that allows you to use only the outer part of the display when in closed-mode, and the entire screen when completely opened.

When opened, the dual-hinge format gives the smartphone multiple ways to orient it. You could potentially open it out completely, turning it into a tablet, or use it in one of many shapes, allowing the phone’s flexible body to work as a stand. The most standout feature of this concept is its ability to be used as a real laptop. While earlier iterations of the Galaxy Fold phones explored the potential laptop format, none are as convenient as the Galaxy Z Fold 3, which comes with its own dedicated slide-out keyboard.

The two images below show the two different orientations for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 to be used in laptop mode. Version 1 gives you a compact device with the slide-out keyboard, and the ability to use the hole-punch front-facing camera for video-calls, while version 2 opens out into a more expansive device, allowing you to access two separate screens for multitasking. One part of the screen faces away from you, giving you the potential to even present to a client.

While the dual-hinge 3-part flexible OLED display is clearly the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s most defining feature, the slide-out keyboard really gives it meaning. Just like the Galaxy Note series comes with a stylus that clearly outlines what the product is meant to be used for, the slide-out keyboard on the Galaxy Z Fold 3 helps it bridge the gap between phone and laptop. There’s no clear information in the patent as to whether the keyboard is a dynamic display or a static one, so the concept opts for the latter, but comes outfitted with everything you’d need to get work done, from a full QWERTY keyboard to a Numpad, and even a voice-command button that lets you dictate to the phone when you don’t want to type.

The phone’s dual-hinge, three-part setup definitely results in an overall device that’s on the thicker side, but it still tries to stay within an inch in thickness, making it relatively pocket-friendly and roughly as thick as most bifold wallets. Where it lacks in sleekness, it makes up for in functionality by being your all-in-one smartphone/tablet/laptop hybrid. Like every Galaxy phone, the Z Fold 3 too sports a USB-C charging hub, and we wouldn’t be surprised if this phone was 5G capable too. A single front-facing camera sits on the screen in the hole-punch format, while the back features a 3-lens setup, similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 2 (See Below).

The product’s been visualized in Rose Gold, although it would probably come in a range of colors catering to Samsung’s catalog. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is a conceptual product based on patented files by Samsung. It’s been visualized as a collaborative effort between LetsGoDigital and Sarang Sheth and isn’t affiliated with the Samsung brand in any way.

Designer/Visualizer: Sarang Sheth in partnership with LetsGoDigital

This concept was first published on LetsGoDigital. Click here to view the original piece.

The LG Wing presents a ‘radically sensible’ evolutionary step in the future of smartphones…

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I didn’t think I’d get excited for smartphones in a while and I surely didn’t think Motorola and LG would be the companies responsible for that feeling. Earlier this week, LG “leaked” a video of their upcoming smartphone in action. Codenamed the Wing (as opposed to Samsung’s Galaxy Fold), this smartphone reinvented the candybar mobile format with a swiveling screen layout. Designed to behave a lot like the LG VX9400 smartphone that Tony Stark used in the 2008 Iron Man, the Wing featured a front screen that rotated 90° and slid up to reveal a second screen underneath. While LG’s leaked video wasn’t much of an aesthetic reveal, it definitely did a lot to show what the company had in store for the future of phones – a future that promised multitasking without horrible hinges, delicate folding screens, and awkwardly thick phones.

The Form Factor

The Wing’s form is undeniably unique when opened, but what’s great about it is that it’s still a regular smartphone when closed. It doesn’t come with a thick body or an unusual gap (like the Galaxy Fold). When closed, you’ve got all the benefits of a regular smartphone, but open it up and the swiveling format really reveals a new side of smartphone computing to you. With two screens (or one and a half screens, if you compare the surface area), the Wing feels refreshing, and in a good way. Here’s why.

Two regular screens are better than one big one

Here’s a statement worth thinking about. A bigger screen doesn’t enable multitasking… more screens do. No matter how large your laptop or tablet’s screen is, chances are you don’t really multitask on it – you just do the same stuff, but on a bigger screen. This fundamental realization is something that sets the Wing and Microsoft’s Surface Duo apart from most folding smartphones. Physically separating screens really makes it easier for your mind to separate tasks, and that’s something that works to the benefit of the Wing. Moreover, its split-screen layout makes the UI of apps really interesting. You could be watching YouTube on the larger screen and browsing related videos on the smaller one. You could even be using Whatsapp or Gmail in landscape while typing in portrait on the smaller screen. The split-screen helps split elements of an app’s experience, allowing you to separate information in a sensible way. Think about having Spotify running on the larger screen and the playback buttons on the smaller one, or Netflix on the landscape screen and the subtitles on the lower screen, not interrupting the visuals you see. Even if you consider something as basic as the camera app, the Wing’s dual displays really help make clicking selfies and taking videos easier, just by being able to space out elements effectively, and separate the visuals from the controls for a cleaner, easier-to-use interface. A split screen helps really effectively split up information, and if done well, can result in a much more sensible user experience.

The Pivot vs the Folding Hinge

The swiveling pivot detail gives the LG Wing a major durability edge over folding smartphones. The hinge is often considered the Achilles heel of the folding smartphone, and is often the first component to fail. By abandoning the hinge detail, the LG Wing coolly circumvents the inherent problems that hinges have. The swivel mechanism sits INSIDE the smartphone rather than outside it, protecting it from any accidents, and here’s the best part… the absence of hinges allows the Wing to be much thinner than traditional folding phones.

The Bezel-less display

This has to be by far the most exciting part about the Wing. The swiveling screen can afford to have a truly bezel-less design, simply by shifting the front-facing camera to the panel behind it. Apart from being an aesthetic upgrade (because bezel-less displays look incredible), it makes the Wing safer too, by allowing you to physically block the front-facing camera when you don’t need it.

No folding display, no problems

As glamorous as folding displays look, they have two massive, fundamental problems. Larger displays need bigger batteries, and more importantly, if you fold anything, it’s bound to crease. The LG Wing’s refreshing format avoids those two problems almost completely… with regularly sized displays that don’t strain the battery as hard, and the absence of a display-crease because there’s really no folding involved.

At the end of the day, even though all we got was a mere microdose of what’s cooking at LG’s headquarters, it was enough to prove a few things… that there’s still room for innovation and improvement in smartphone designs, that folding screens may not be the way moving forward, and that the swivel-format is more than just a fancy gimmick… it’s actually sensible, and has the potential of completely revolutionizing the way we interact and multitask with phones, apps, and interfaces.

Designer: Sarang Sheth

Google teases image of what the Nest Home smart-speaker will look like in 2020

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Even though the Pixel 4a didn’t pan out the way Google wanted to, the rest of the company’s hardware seems to be on track. Images of the new Nest Home speaker inadvertently leaked online during regulatory filings, so Google decided to release a much more cosmetic-looking official photo of what the new Nest smart speaker would look like. The image (which can be found immediately below) was provided to The Verge, and was used as a framework for the renders created by Yanko Design (above and at the end of the article).

The new Nest speaker kind of sits between the large Google Home Max speaker and the small, dottish Nest Mini. There isn’t much clarity on what color options Google will be looking at, although the blue displayed in the images sort of ties in with Pantone’s Color Of The Year (Google released a coral-colored Nest Mini last year to match the 2019 Pantone COTY too). Apart from that, the standard grey and anthracite seem to be Google’s go-to hues.

Details on the speaker’s hardware are scant at the moment, but it looks like the new Nest Home 2020 smart speaker should be a sort of spiritual successor to the Google Home which released in 2016. The Nest Home 2020 (we’re yet to see if it’ll be called that) should make its appearance at the company’s Made By Google event later this year.

Designer: Google

Supplementary Images by Sarang Sheth