HTC design patent shows off slide-out stereo speaker concept

Even before HTC bought a 51 percent share of Beats Audio, the company was already hard at work, thinking of ways to give consumers a unique audio experience on their smartphones. A new HTC patent application has surfaced which depicts a media centric device which features both front and rear facing stereo speakers which can deliver a virtual surround sound experience for the user. Simply placing speakers on the front and back would be too easy (and would probably not be eligible for a patent), the images submitted wit
h HTC’s patent application depict back panels which slide out when the phone is in landscape mode to reveal the front and back speakers in addition to a kickstand which can prop the device up.

If all of this sounds a little familiar, it should. The Windows Phone 7 powered HTC Surround features a similar setup with a slide-out stereo speaker and kickstand. The main difference between the HTC Surround and the patent application is that the back panel slides in a difference direction.

Other blogs are suggesting HTC will be using this design patent to create an iPod Touch competitor, but we don’t think that will happen. HTC likes to sell products with extremely high profit margins. Getting into direct competition with Apple and Samsung with an Android PMP does not sound like a whole lot of fun  – even if HTC does have Beat Audio integration to throw around.

Source: PatentBolt via: Phandroid