Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

blackhand1001

macrumors 68030
Jan 6, 2009
2,599
33
Don't knock the home button. I've got a Samsung phone with those stupid capacitive buttons along the bottom of the screen, and if an app locks up or is running poorly, my only recourse is to restart the whole phone (or wait it out). With a physical button, I'm not dependent on the buttons being recognized and I can force quit the app. Plus, it simply looks and feels nicer.

jW

That has nothing to do with whether or not the button is physical or capacitive. All the button is is a switch that tells the os to perform an option. If the thread that controls the operation of the physical button hangs then clicking the button won't do anything either.
 

linkgx1

macrumors 68000
Oct 12, 2011
1,766
443
Hm....looks like Samsung beat them to the punch.


Samsung-flexible-AMOLED-display_CES.png
 

iOsDroid

macrumors newbie
Sep 17, 2012
10
0
Seen it Lawl

samsung already has already researched flexible screens and have shown prototypes.
 

irv0735

macrumors newbie
Sep 14, 2012
7
0
Samsung may already have researched flexible displays, but everything appears limited in the way it can bend (the entire screen similar to the images included in the patent filing)

This article mentions pop-up buttons that would be more localized, however I'm surprised that they mention a mechanical aspect underneath to push the screen up forming the button...That would most certainly result in an increase in thickness.

This however, looks awesome!
Tactus

If someone could pull this off and the screen did not feel "rubbery" or lose shape over time, it would be pretty neat.

EDIT: I went and reviewed the patent (should have to start with) and the patent mentions that it could use actuators to pop-up the screen, so it wasn't just the write-up. I still hope Apple could work with Tactus and develop something that does not require them.
 
Last edited:

Lark.Landon

macrumors 6502
Aug 15, 2012
275
0
So Cal
First we have to end hunger. When no child goes to bed hungry in the world, we can start looking at iOS 6 battery life.

If you're going to focus on one thing at a time, get your priorities straight.


This is a forum where people discuss iProducts, not world issues.

http://community.peacecorpsconnect.org - If you want to discuss hungry children.

----------

If you really want to get priorities straight, maybe the benefits of abstinence should be promoted. If you can't afford to feed your kids, why should the rest of the world have to worry about keeping them from going to bed hungry? Sorry, maybe I am a cold-hearted ass, but fixing world hunger isn't my problem. The population is exploding and when people are pretty much stacked on top of each other in massively poor and overcrowded areas, I can't possibly see it being a good idea to procreate if you can barely sustain yourself, and then expect others to help your situation.

That is a bit cold and callous, but very true. /agree

----------

Apple dump the home button. Instead, "Siri, open sesame".

I like the home button. :(

----------

Now we're getting somewhere!

  1. Promote abstinence
  2. Feed the world
  3. Fix iOS 6 battery-life issues
  4. Develop phones with flexible displays

Sounds like a game plan.



lulz

----------

yeah? so where's your engineering degree from? what labs do you work in?

or are you just some dude on the internet w/ no relevant data?



He's probably a dude on the internet without "any relevant data". He's making a hypothesis. Hence the phrase, "..at least I think. "

Humans have oily skin

Oily fingers rub over the holes depositing small amounts of oil over the course of the iPhone's life

Dirt/Dust sticks to skin oil

Derp derp derp.

----------

Hm....looks like Samsung beat them to the punch.


Image

You so racist.
 

hchung

macrumors 6502a
Oct 2, 2008
689
1
Before anyone says "others always follow Apple" :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsIjfy8g2Pk

CES 2011 says Hi!

Glad Apple is also researching this. Flexible displays are going to really make device design explode as multiple shapes will be possible now instead of a flat surface.

Transparent display is also another area vendors need to start exploring.

Apple's patent application is NOT claiming that they're inventing or manufacturing flexible displays. The patent application's abstract is talking about the use of speaker/voicecoil technology to deform a flexible screen in order to provide physical feedback much like irv0735 mentioned referring to Tactus. Or to use the movement of the flexible display as a speaker, a microphone, or both.

So if I hear another "Apple didn't invent flexible displays" battle cry, this is a preemptive "duh. now read."
 

tdtran1025

macrumors 6502
Dec 26, 2011
275
0
They certainly race to put ideas patented to lock out competitors. It does not mean the idea can be carried out successfully. What a world we are living in!
 

slimbek

macrumors regular
Feb 23, 2011
127
0
Melbourne, Australia
I feel like flexible and curved displays will end up creating an orgy of smartphone designs that end up closely resembling WinAmp skins of the late 90's...

oh the horror!
 

linkgx1

macrumors 68000
Oct 12, 2011
1,766
443
This is a forum where people discuss iProducts, not world issues.

http://community.peacecorpsconnect.org - If you want to discuss hungry children.

----------



That is a bit cold and callous, but very true. /agree

----------



I like the home button. :(

----------



lulz

----------



He's probably a dude on the internet without "any relevant data". He's making a hypothesis. Hence the phrase, "..at least I think. "

Humans have oily skin

Oily fingers rub over the holes depositing small amounts of oil over the course of the iPhone's life

Dirt/Dust sticks to skin oil

Derp derp derp.

----------



You so racist.

Omg, lol, how does that make me racist?
 

Thex1138

macrumors 6502a
Mar 17, 2009
990
0
Sydney, Australia
Laser Microphone behind the screen

Now that sounds interesting!
:rolleyes:

They want to ditch all the openings in the screen. Excellent...

2 years until iPhone [6]
:rolleyes:
 

sparkso

macrumors regular
Dec 3, 2009
142
49
Before anyone says "others always follow Apple" :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsIjfy8g2Pk

CES 2011 says Hi!

Glad Apple is also researching this. Flexible displays are going to really make device design explode as multiple shapes will be possible now instead of a flat surface.

Transparent display is also another area vendors need to start exploring.

The problem is no one else dares to go-to-market with new tech until after Apple spent millions in deeper research and refining into an actual product, and then everyone starts doing the same once they've proven the market for it.
 

AppleScruff1

macrumors G4
Feb 10, 2011
10,026
2,949
Maybe they should concentrate on making a working map app and a phone that doesn't come scratched from the factory first.
 

Bladers

macrumors member
Aug 31, 2012
83
20
The problem is no one else dares to go-to-market with new tech until after Apple spent millions in deeper research and refining into an actual product, and then everyone starts doing the same once they've proven the market for it.


Seeing that Both samsung and Nokia have flexible and stretchable displays prototypes out already in the public.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLD8RbKJwBw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zto6aTZM9t0

Samsung:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k6r2HQY9Ws
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJEHp15Hoo0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU2nG9qy6vs

You need to put down the apple and smell the coffee.
 

tuyylihk

macrumors member
Aug 7, 2012
54
2
Before anyone says "others always follow Apple" :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsIjfy8g2Pk

CES 2011 says Hi!

Glad Apple is also researching this. Flexible displays are going to really make device design explode as multiple shapes will be possible now instead of a flat surface.

Transparent display is also another area vendors need to start exploring.
Seems the flexible display is the way apple can put "Under-Surface Speakers, Tactile Feedback, Laser Microphones" into their devices.
So the flexible display is not the most important thing this time.

Everyone know the flexible display is not something new.
It is not possible that Apple can get the patent only with this.

I am confused how can the flexible display be used in the past.
Apple may be answering me this time.
 

KnightWRX

macrumors Pentium
Jan 28, 2009
15,046
4
Quebec, Canada
The problem is no one else dares to go-to-market with new tech until after Apple spent millions in deeper research and refining into an actual product, and then everyone starts doing the same once they've proven the market for it.

Yeah, I guess you're right. Especially with display tech. It's not like anyone had the Retina display before Apple did it on iPhone 4... Or in-cell touch technology before the iPhone 5.

Oh wait... That's not even remotely true. 300+ ppi phones were available before iPhone 4 (Toshiba shipped the Protege G900 in June 2007 with a 315 ppi screen) and Super AMOLED incorporated a form of in cell touch on the first phone to ship with it, the Samsung Galaxy S (yes, the original model!).

Oh geez, there goes your theory.
 

Bezetos

macrumors 6502a
May 18, 2012
739
0
far away from an Apple store
I wonder how this differs from what Samsung and other companies are doing, because the description pretty much matches what other companies have been experimenting with (laser microphones, in-display speakers, tactile feedback etc.).

Nokia had a concept video many years ago describing those ideas and many more.

----------

The problem is no one else dares to go-to-market with new tech until after Apple spent millions in deeper research and refining into an actual product, and then everyone starts doing the same once they've proven the market for it.
I really don't understand where people are getting the idea that Apple is spending "millions in deeper research", and this statement is usually accompanied by the argument that other companies are "stealing from Apple".
 

gpat

macrumors 68000
Mar 1, 2011
1,870
5,044
Italy
September 2013:

Apple has announced the new iPhone 6. This is phone is completely flexible and water proof! Phill Schiller and Tim Cook climb into a water tank and play underwater hand-ball with their phone. They climb out of the water and call each other by accessing Siri using telepathy.


Here are the headlines we would see:

Engadget: iPhone 6 Disappoints
BGR: iPhone 6 is Boring
AI: Analysts Concerned with Apple's Ability to Innovate
MacRumors: Does the iPhone 6 Disappoint?
Android Police: iPhone still trying to catch Android.

3/5 of the sites you mentioned have been licking on Apple's backside for as long as I can recall.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.