良好, it looks like Microsoft is looking to, once again, make a return to the hardware space with a newly filed “modular 计算 device” patent. As the name implies, if this idea were to actually make its way into production, owners of the machine would be able to upgrade and replace certain components of their Microsoft-branded PC without advanced DIY computer-building knowledge.
如 VentureBeat 报告, the patent was filed last July, prior to being published this past Thursday, 二月 11. Notably, Tim Escolin, an industrial designer on Microsoft’s Surface devices and accessories team, is credited with co-authoring the patent, indicating that it might share the Surface branding.
A combination of offering modular hardware in conjunction with the Surface qualifier would make sense for Microsoft, 鉴于这两个公司的成功多方面 Surface Book 和表面临首发阵容和利息的公司已经证明了模块化配件与 Xbox One Elite controller.
Two years ago, Microsoft first indicated an interest in modular PC development while promoting Razer’s Project Christine PC. Interestingly enough, 然而, the computer is still available on the market despite being revealed as far back at CES 2014. Fortunately, Acer’s Revo Build Mini PC took customization into its own hands with an affordable $225 entry-level price tag.
Unlike other modular PC examples, if the aforementioned patent makes its way into production, Microsoft plans on packaging in a display with the computer, effectively making it a modular all-in-one. The rest of the hardware, consisting of a removable battery, a processor, a graphics card, memory, storage, speakers, and a wireless card, 是通过铰链连接到显示. There’s even mention of components for gesture recognition and holographic projection, perhaps hinting at some cross-functionality with HoloLens.
此外, 该组件由磁壳包围，你可以混合和匹配，你认为合适.
“In this way, the computing device may be altered and changed readily by a user in an intuitive manner without requiring detailed knowledge of the hardware,” write the patent authors.
当然, 与所有的专利申请, we can’t be sure this is a product we’ll actually see come to fruition in the near, or even distant future, 但它 是 fun to speculate nonetheless.
