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This could be LG's rollable Project B smartphone
- LG has secured a patent for a rollable phone with a retractable frame.
- The patent describes what could be LG’s rumored Project B device.
LG is certainly being adventurous when it comes to smartphone design. After launching the LG Wing under its new Explorer project, the company is now in the news for an upcoming phone with a rollable display.
Dubbed Project B, the rumored phone is expected to launch in March 2021 and it may have been teased during the Wing launch. Now, it looks like we have an idea as to what it could look like.
LetsGoDigital has dug up a patent granted to LG for a smartphone with a rollable display. The patent is called “Roll-slide mobile terminal” and was filed by the Korean company in August 2019. It was published in September this year and has since been included in the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office) database.
LG rollable phone design
The patent documentation describes a phone with a retractable frame and an OLED display that slides out from both the left and right sides. Once pulled out, the display area is doubled. Moreover, users can also decide to roll out the screen from one side rather than both sides.
When you want to use the phone normally, this rollable screen retracts back into its housing to form a regular rectangular-shaped phone.
The entire frame of the phone extends out when the rollable display is pulled out. To achieve this, LG has reportedly used a second frame that pops out of the main body.
LG is apparently using saw gears and some elastic elements so that the display can slide in and out smoothly. The company will also have a mechanism in place to avoid the display from rolling out unintentionally.
Would you buy a rollable smartphone?
Elsewhere, LG’s patent notes that the display automatically adjusts the orientation depending on the phone’s rolled out/retracted state. Other multitasking abilities that we’ve come to see on the likes of Samsung’s foldable phones are also mentioned in the documentation.
Whether this is the Project B device everyone is talking about is unclear as of now. We’ll only know more when we start seeing render leaks from trusted sources or if the company discloses something officially. Would you buy a rollable smartphone? Let us know in the poll above!