Apple's iPad proved high consumer demand for tablets, and ever since the iPad's launch, the world's leading tech companies have been in a mad scramble to develop their own tablets. And we all know that HP, ASUS, RIM, Toshiba, MSI, and Samsung are all working on tablets, which are expected to debut towards the end of 2010/beginning of 2011. Most of these new tablets, we presume, will be very similar to the Apple iPad, with either a 7" or 10" touchscreen, a plethora of apps, high quality hardware, sleek design, and a button or two. Some have gone as far as to promise... a WebCam! But are any companies really thinking out of the box? Well Samsung certainly is, according to a recent patent application.
Specifically, Samsung recently applied for a "[m]obile terminal having dual touch screen and method of controlling content therein". In layman's terms, Samsung plans to develop a tablet with two touchscreens: one on the front of the device, and one on the back. The purpose would be to have separate gestures for both the front and back, to make the tablet experience easier and quicker to perform specific tasks. Check out the patent diagram below (via UnwiredView)
Samsung already has a standard iPad-esque tablet in the works, the Galaxy Tablet, so we probably won't see this double-sided touchscreen technology for quite some time; however, it's certainly an interesting idea. We have all seen the Motorola Backflip, which has the tradmark "BACKTRACK navigation pad" on its rear: similar in concept to the double-sided touchscreen seen here, and has been somewhat successful. Then again, the BACKTRACK pad is more of a mouse touchpad (think laptop) than a touchscreen. I can't wait to see this "double-sided touchscreen" technology put to practical use. Let us know your thoughts on the future of tablets, and will these radical features have a place in the tablet market?
source: UnwiredView
source: UnwiredView
