Motorola and other smartphone makers are always experimenting with new form factors. In fact, that’s how foldables became a thing. And now, Motorola has just received a new patent that would take a smartwatch and turn it into a smartphone.
The patent in question is US12,693,705 with the title “Pivoting wearable reconfigurable screen.” According to the patent, this starts out as a smartwatch while worn on the wrist, then unfolds into a flexible display smartphone.
Apparently, the watch would unfold into a short, wide smartphone display, and would require assembly. In one diagram in the patent, the watch strap pivots, allowing for a second part of the band to attach to the other half to create a screen. Likely using magnets to keep the two halves together. Reminding us a lot of Project Ara, which Motorola was also behind, when Google owned the company in the early 2010s.
This isn’t the first time that Motorola has come up with this idea. Back at MWC 2024, the company showed off its Adaptive Display Concept, which was essentially a flexible 6.9-inch display smartphone that would then wrap around your wrist. Obviously, it was quite wide and did take up a decent amount of your wrist, but it was very cool.
This new patent doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll see this become a real product
The important thing to remember with patents is that just because they are awarded, it doesn’t mean we’ll see this become a real product. Companies apply for and are granted patents for all sorts of things. In fact, Motorola has thousands and thousands of patents, having almost 24,000 when it was sold to Google back in 2011.
Research and Development departments at places like Motorola are always looking at new ideas and new things that they can try. This is just one of those things. And while it does sound pretty cool, it might not ever actually launch. So it’s important to keep that in mind.
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