HTC Patents New Cell Phone Form Factor

We’re fairly sure you’ve seen slider phones as well as clamshell phones; after all, they are rather popular form factors for cell phones. Now it seems that HTC is considering another type of form factor, thanks to a patent filed by the company to the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). This design basically uses magnets to hold down the spring-loaded hinge. So all you have to do is slide the top layer down by a few millimeters, and the phone should spring open. Sounds pretty cool, though you would obviously worry about the durability of the hinges, since it’s going to spring open quite often. Perhaps we’ll be seeing an Android-powered phone sporting this form factor soon?