Sony is well-known as a multimedia-focussed smartphone maker. A new patent has been spotted now, which suggests that the company maybe looking to take content consumption to the next level with a set of speakers that pop-out from the top and the bottom when needed.
Sony Xperia smartphones have retained their design language for the better part of this decade, with bold boxy looks, unapologetic bezels and tall displays. Some even sported front-firing speakers at the expense of a bigger chin and forehead. This new patent from Sony aims to bring the best of both worlds — big speakers as well as small bezels.
Let’sGoDigital spotted the patent application at the World Intellectual Property Office database, which shows a Sony phone with pretty slim bezels on all four sides. A closer look shows that the earpiece, loudspeaker and the selfie camera are nowhere to be seen in this state.
Here’s when things get interesting. According to the sketches, this prototype Xperia device will have the entire top section of the phone pop-up, revealing the selfie camera and the earpiece (which presumably doubles as a loudspeaker) when needed. Not just that, for instances such as music playback or watching videos, the bottom section pops out, revealing the second loudspeaker. This means that the device can offer dual front-firing stereo speakers when needed, and smaller bezels during the other times.
For example, if you want to conduct a video call, just the top portion will be activated, or if you want to watch a video with stereo audio, both the speakers will jump into action. This could help future Sony phones get more wieldy, which is a common complaint on current high-end Xperia devices which are too tall.
However, the implementation does raise a few concerns on the vigour of this mechanism. Moving parts are never a good idea on a smartphone, and with something basic such as the loudspeaker needing the motors to fire up means that they are going to be used very often. Such big components will also take a tall on water resistance, a feature that Sony pioneered years ago.
As always, a patent doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a device that is currently being worked on or if it will see the light of day in the same fashion. It could be one of the designs that Sony is exploring for its future devices.
