During its Surface Duo announcement, Microsoft confirmed the dual-screen device will be just 4.8mm thick. That’s not a lot of room for battery. Considering the Duo has two screens, it is likely to consume more battery than a regular smartphone. A recently applied Microsoft patent shows how the company wants to make it easier for users to keep track of their battery consumption. Specifically, the company describes a battery meter that will display more information. If applied to the Duo the technology would allow users to see how much battery they have left and see usage times under several scenarios. “A user interface for power management of a mobile communications device is described. In one implementation, the power consumption used in performing a plurality of tasks is monitored by a mobile communication device. A user interface is displayed on a display of the mobile communication device describing a period of time that may perform each of the plurality of tasks based on the determined amount of power remaining in the battery.”
Building the Duo
What we do know about the Surface Duo is it’s a dual-screen Android handset that will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855. It will also have a 5.3-inch display that is 8.3-inches when opened. Yesterday, we reported on a Microsoft patent that aims to solve unwanted screen re-orientation. Smartphones will often switch between landscape and portrait with the slightest screen tilt unless the setting is turned off. Microsoft sees this has being a huge problem on the dual-screened Duo and has proposed software to stop over-sensitive orientation.
