Apple to Introduce a Curved-Glass iPhone 5?

[tigress666]

Ok, don't like the idea of a curved back. I have had both the 3G and the 4 and while I was skeptical about liking a flat back like the 4 cause of hand feel when using as a phone, I noticed that the fact it stayed flat on the table when using on a table made a bigger difference than how it felt in the hand and htat it was nice that it didn't rock on a table. So I'll take a flat back thank you.

As for it having a curved front, some one pointed out for the idea of one that curves out like the 5th gen ipod, there's a reason people paid more back in the days of CRT monitors to have a *flat panel* (for one no image distortion). Dunno if there are bad reasons for it curving in (probably still distorts image).

So, besides aesthetics, is there an actual *practical* reason for wanting a curved glass in the front? I still don't understand the point of the Samsung's and why it's all that big a deal.

 

[KnightWRX]

So you are implying that Apple is copying Samsung and Sony Ericsson?

Well I sure hope if this rumor is true no one will try to claim Apple made curved glass phones first

Though I'm sure Steve will say "We were first to ship a curved glass phone in volumes!"

 

[macintel4me]

I have had a Samsung Nexus S for about 5 months and until I read this article I had no idea that this device had "curved glass". Learn something new everyday.

 

[igazza]

to many rumors

 

[Mr. Gates]

What if it's for the back?

 

[McGiord]

Curved glass will distribute force more evenly across the arc'd surface.

Any exposed area that will be in contact with potential impacts will make the glass prone to breakage. Apple engineers know what they are doing and how to protect the risk areas of the glass panels they use in their products.

Unless this display curved design adds something to the game, like allowing 3D without glasses to be a real joy, I do not like it.

I do prefer the flatness of the screens: TV, Mac, iPhone, iPad (even it has crappy resolution).

What else could this bring to the 'magical' experience?

What if it's for the back?

That is also what I initially thought, and one post by Arn makes it clear that the rumor applies for the front panel: display.

 

[steadysignal]

GREAT!
First its glass, now its curved glass.
What I am sure of is that it will be a beautiful design and certainly drive all the case manufacturers CRAZY!

maybe its all a scam to support after market repairs?

 

[KnightWRX]

Unless this display curved design adds something to the game, like allowing 3D without glasses to be a real joy, I do not like it.

What else could this bring to the 'magical' experience?

It's supposedly about making the phone more comfortable to hold up to your ear. You know, that functionality no one uses anymore ?

 

[newdeal]

...

The curvd glass on the nexus s makes no differance whatsoever. I dont give a **** what it looks like just give me a big screen, slim and light phone, long battery life and indestructable materials. I dont care if its pretty

 

[McGiord]

As per Google's website on the Android contour display:
The curvature will help them make the glass panel thinner (something that loves to do).
And reduce the glare when outdoors.
There might be some more things about it...

 

[eh270]

Maybe it will be transparent, too!

 

[SeniorGato1]

maybe its all a scam to support after market repairs?

That would apply to the current iPhone 4 with the addition of a glass back.

 

[ten-oak-druid]

Well I sure hope if this rumor is true no one will try to claim Apple made curved glass phones first

Though I'm sure Steve will say "We were first to ship a curved glass phone in volumes!"

If Apple embraces the idea they will ship in volumes while the competition waits it out to see how Apple does. And of course people will be here mocking the "volume" argument when anyone gives Apple credit if it is a success and other companies follow.

You could hold this conversation about tablets for instance. " Apple didn't make them first." "Apple is trying to spin it that they shipped in volumes." blah blah blah. They did bring the tablet into being a large market as they did the smart phone. And arguing that the risk Apple took in shipping large volumes first and taking a chance on a new market is trivial may seem logical to you but it really isn't.

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

hopefully it will be curved ala Nexus S, and not like the last gen nano as some rumor sites are suggesting. I think it would be really ugly with a convex screen as opposed to concave, it will also seem to be much more prone to breaking if dropped.

curved back sounds interesting, would certainly allow them to have the phone "appear" thinner, while cramming more junk inside which is always good!

Hopefully we will get a slightly larger "edge to edge" screen, I think that would be a better feature than curved glass!

 

[Reason077]

I think you'll find that a newer, better flavour of Android is already out by the time the iPhone 5 launches. Just get the S2 now and save the hassle.

Good luck upgrading your S2 to Android 4.0 (or whatever) though. If Samsung's past performance is anything to go by, they'll promise it for a few months after the initial Android release, then the release date will keep slipping, and finally they'll release a rather buggy and unpolished update.

Of course, long before the Android update for the S2 comes along, there'll be a shiny new S4 phone out that runs the new OS perfectly!

 

[Avatar74]

As per Google's website on the Android contour display:
The curvature will help them make the glass panel thinner (something that loves to do).
And reduce the glare when outdoors.
There might be some more things about it...

Good point about reflectivity. Angle of incidence equals angle of reflection... A while ago a concept designer friend of mine (Andy Probert, who worked on the original Battlestar Galactica, Back to the Future and other productions during the 80's) said he would love to see a curved slider. I don't think Apple will go for the slider part, but he'll be intrigued to see the curve if they do it.

 

[bigandtasty]

back to old school tube television!!

iPhone 5 will utilize CRT technology

 

[Thunderhawks]

Curved glass? That's so un-Apple!

they made it thinner too

 

[Thunderhawks]

to many rumors

to come?

 

[KnightWRX]

If Apple embraces the idea they will ship in volumes while the competition has been shipping for months.

Fixed that there for you.

Obviously, Apple is right to sue big bad Samsung for copying their "design" (which is quite arguable seeing how a few cherry picked pictures don't tell the whole story) yet Apple copying Samsung just means they "made it better" right ?

Seriously, the lack of objectiveness in some of you is quite astounding.

 

[bdkennedy1]

I absolutely 100% don't believe this rumor. Swiping in a straight line would be impossible. Can you imagine playing Fruit Ninja with a curved screen?

 

[ten-oak-druid]

Fixed that there for you.

Obviously, Apple is right to sue big bad Samsung for copying their "design" (which is quite arguable seeing how a few cherry picked pictures don't tell the whole story) yet Apple copying Samsung just means they "made it better" right ?

Seriously, the lack of objectiveness in some of you is quite astounding.

Give me a break.

Samsung blatantly copied the ipad. Get over it. At least the xoom has some unique features.

Anyway we get it. You don't respect Apple. Anything more to add? Because I seriously doubt your little rants on this forum are convincing anyone to see your point of view. It is sort of sad to see you trying to spin everything against apple. I get the feeling this really bothers you.

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

I absolutely 100% don't believe this rumor. Swiping in a straight line would be impossible. Can you imagine playing Fruit Ninja with a curved screen?

impossible? it's not going to be greatly curved, it will be something ala nexus S, which people are using just fine not having problems swiping straight lines or playing games on...

Give me a break.

Samsung blatantly copied the ipad. Get over it. At least the xoom has some unique features.

so if they copied the iPad, how can you not say apple using a curved display is copying the nexus s??

And i don't get all of this "copy" hoopla... can't really make a tablet look drastically different, it's a freaking screen with a bezel and a few buttons for volume and power and a headphone jack for goodness sakes...

 

[johndallas999]

Curved glass seems like a step backwards. What would the point of this be other than a potentially cool looking device?

 

[mlts22]

I wonder if Apple is working on curved glass for a more utilitarian reason:

The HTC Inspire 4G has an 8MP camera. To fit that in a relatively slim phone, it required curving the phone around the camera's lens and body, which is the thickest part of the device.

I wonder if Apple is looking at similar, so the next iPhone could sport a higher res camera, but without making the whole phone thicker in general.