this post was submitted on 31 Dec 2023
255 points (91.8% liked)

Technology

59575 readers
3475 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
255
Smartphone manufacturers still want to make foldables a thing (arstechnica.com)
submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
190 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Smartphone manufacturers still want to make foldables a thing::Foldables are barely 1% of the market, but that's not stopping anyone but Apple.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I've seen a number of pictures of dual-screen clamshell type phones where the second screen is used as the keyboard, and I would assume a foldable could be used the same way? That's what got me thinking of checking into the models of phones available now with dual screens that might fit the bill.

I have a Sony Xperia compact (4.6" screen) that I designed and 3D-printed a custom case for which includes a slide out tray to hold a keyboard. I designed a keyboard circuit board with the assumption of connecting it directly to the USB port, but can't seem to find a suitable way to break out the existing USB-C port to provide a second very simple USB connection (without compromising the USB-C functionality of the primary port) that I could connect the keyboard to. My alternate plan is to upgrade from an Arduino chip to an ESP32 Pico D4 chip which could provide a bluetooth connection to the phone. I'm currently trying to wrap up some custom circuit boards for some computer control on a model train layout, but maybe I'll get back to this project once that one is finished.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Hmmm, nice, but I have no 3D printer or ability to custom program a keyboard chip.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Yeah this definitely isn't a project for everyone. At the moment I'm not even quite sure how I would print the keys nicely although I do have some ideas. Maybe some day I'll get back to it and make it work.