When the Google Pixel was announced last October, one of the most controversial talking points was the design of the phone. The large glass panel on the back along with the rest of the metal body just looked odd and out of place, but a new patent that was recently granted to Google suggests that the company could one day release a future Pixel smartphone that would make better use of its backside.
The patent is for a smartphone with a recessed area on its back that would feature a touch panel for users to interact with the phone by swiping and performing other gestures on the back rather than on the display itself. We've seen a few smartphones in years past that made some sort of use of rear-mounted gestures, and even the Pixel and Pixel XL allow you to swipe down on the rear-mounted fingerprint sensor to access your notifications.
That addition to the fingerprint scanner on last year's Pixel handsets was quite convenient, but this new rear touch panel would likely take that functionality to the next level. The idea here is that this area of the phone could be used for swiping through your home screens, zooming in on photos, and plenty more.
Google originally filed for the patent back in June 2016, and seeing as how the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office just approved it last week, it's quite unlikely that this feature will be present in this year's Google smartphone. However, we wouldn't be all that surprised if the Pixel 3 or other future Google handsets integrated this tech within the next year or two.
Via: Patently Mobile
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