Samsung Galaxy Note 20 may use a mysterious new display — and fold, too

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 may use a new mysterious display called Piff. Or maybe it will be for the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2. But what the heck is a Piff?

In slang, piff means “superior to the average.” And if you are a London teen, it will mean “pretty, sexy or hot” to you. I doubt any of these correspond to Samsung’s new mysterious display but I bet “superior to the average” may be applied — so I’m inclined to think Piff is some sort of an acronym.

But what could this mean?

Whatever it is, Samsung thought that the incoming display requires a name so special that it needed to be registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office — as discovered by LetsGoDigital.

In the USPTO listing, the brand ”SAMSUNG PIFF” is only for “display for smart phones,” which is surprisingly specific because usually brand names cover a long list of categories. Like with other trademarks, there are no technical details about what the brand covers.

We also know that Samsung has the habit of registering trademarks a few months ahead of products that will sport a certain branding. It happened with the Samsung Ultra Thin Glass in the Galaxy Z Flip, for example: the trademark was published on December 11 2019 and the phone was unveiled on February 11.

Taking all of the above into consideration, it’s pretty reasonable to think that this mysterious new “Samsung Piff” applies to the display of a new Samsung smartphone that will be launched in the coming months. And the only significant phone we can think of that would require a special brand name of its display is the Galaxy Note 20. Or maybe it’s all about the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2.

A pen enabled foldable display?

Perhaps the trademark is related to a new patent unearthed today by PatentlyMobile, which describes a foldable display that is pen compatible, with a chassis that can hold the pen one of its flaps. Here is a look at an illustration in the patent application:

This could be the Samsung Galaxy Fold with its rumored S-Pen support. Or maybe that is actually the Galaxy Note 20 after all and Samsung would consolidate both lines as previously rumored — and because it makes sense to turn the Note 20 into a distinct phone from the S20, leaving the Galaxy Z Flip as the S20‘s counterpart.

So maybe, just maybe, PIFF means something like “Pen Inside Foldable Flap”?