Microsoft Patents A Modular PC That Allows You To Build Your Own Computer In No Time

 

Images | Microsoft/United States Patent and Trademark Office

Short Bytes: Microsoft has patented a new “modular computing device” that aims to make PC-building a child’s play. If the patent design enters into production, it would enable you to create your own PC by stacking up all the components on top of one another. If we keep in mind Microsoft’s recent efforts in the hardware business, a modular desktop PC from Microsoft won’t be a surprise.
Many analysts labeled 2015 as the year when PC would die. Along the similar lines, if you look at the data, PC sales are declining with each passing year and hybrid devices are becoming more powerful. This also poses a threat to Microsoft’s supremacy in computing devices that made Bill Gates. Inspired by the fear of becoming obsolete, last year, the company worked hard to craft a success story called Windows 10.

Once again, to make an impact on the hardware market, Redmond is eyeing on a revolutionary form factor — modular desktop PCs. VentureBeat has just uncovered a new patent filed by Microsoft that would allow the users of the machine (if it enters into production) to upgrade and replace the components of their Microsoft PC without much hassle. Of course it’s still possible with the present day desktop PCs but Microsoft wants to make this as simple as child’s play.
This patent was filed last July and Tim Escolin, a designer on Microsoft’s Surface team, is credited with the patent. This indicates that after a Surface-branded tablet and laptop, Microsoft can also launch a Surface desktop PC. This would allow the users to stack hardware modules — processors, graphics, memory, or storage — on top of one another. The base of the display is where all the other components stack up.

“In one or more implementations, a computing device includes a display modular component including a housing, a display device physically and communicatively coupled to the housing via a hinge, and one or more display hardware elements disposed within the housing that are configured to output a display for display by the display device,” the patent describes.  “The computing device also includes a computing modular component including a housing that is physically and communicatively coupled to the display modular component, a processing system disposed within the housing, and memory disposed within the housing”.
While Redmond is already looking to expand its Surface lineup with Surface Phone, a Surface desktop PC could be another project to follow.If we talk about the history of modular products, the most interesting consumer electronics project is Google’s Project Ara smartphones. The search engine company has been working on the smartphone for a long time and Google has hinted at a possible test later this year.
With just a patent filing we can’t make any future predictions but it’s exciting to speculate about the possibilities. However, if we keep in mind Microsoft’s recent efforts in the hardware business, a modular desktop PC from Microsoft won’t be a surprise.
What’s your take on this? Feel free to take part in the discussion through the comments section below.