Samsung's next generation of its Galaxy Z Fold - presumably called the Galaxy Z Fold 3 - might include a light indicator in the hideaway hinge, if a recent patent is anything to go by.

The South Korean manufacturer filed a patent titled "Galaxy Z Fold with Light Indicator" in March 2019, which was published by the World Intellectual Property Organization on 1 October and discovered by LetsGoDigital, who made mock-up renders of what the patent could result in.

The patent presents the Galaxy Z Fold with an indicator mounted into the hinge featuring LED light elements protected by an almost translucent cover. The purpose of the indicator would be to notify the user of notifications, or incoming calls or messages.

When the user receives a call, message or another notification, the LED light indicator on the hinge would light up, alerting the user to check their phone. From what we can gather, the patent simply refers to a light panel, rather than an additional screen with text.

As with all patents, this one may never see the light of day - pun intended - but some good changes were made in the Galaxy Z Fold 2 over the original so it will certainly be interesting to see what Samsung might do for the third generation. 

We wouldn't expect to see the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 arrive before the latter half of 2021 but we will be sure to keep you up to date on any rumours surrounding the device.