Samsung patent shows potential device covers with app shortcuts

Samsung files a ton of patents for possible future products, but not all of them come to fruition or even production. But it’s still nice to look at them every once in a while to see what may be coming up for their gadgets, specifically smartphones. A new patent application that the US Patent & Trademark Office published is for smart covers for their mobile devices where you can sort of launch apps even when you haven’t opened the cover to the device yet.
 
The idea for the cover is actually pretty simple but useful if it will see the light of day. For the notebook cover, there will be several app icons shown. You press on one of them and when you open your notebook, it’s the app that you chose that you will see first. As for the smartphone cover, your favorite app icons will be on the edge of the inside cover. This means you can get rid of the app dock on your phone’s home screen so you can display more apps there or whatever you want to show there.
 
Not a lot of people actually enjoy having covers on their devices since they want easier access to it more than protecting the screen from scratches or damage. Besides, there is always screen protectors or cases for those purposes. But the hassle of constantly opening a cover is annoying for some. Maybe the idea of these smart covers may change their mind.
 
This patent was actually filed in the second quarter of this year and is still listed as an application. So this means if they actually get the patent and then start production, we have no idea what the timetable is like.

---