Screens won't "fold" for some time yet. It's all about bend radius! What's the minimum bend radius for the flexible screen? I'll guess a quarter inch? So you need a tricky kind of foldable that doesn't bend the screen very sharply.
Got a tip for us?
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LG Said to Supply Apple With Foldable Displays for Future iPhones
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I think in the future I would love a 12.9" iPad Pro that could fold down the middle like a book. It would be so much more portable for transporting that way while still providing all that wonderful screen real estate.
Reading ebooks on it would also feel a lot more natural if it could bend in the middle like a real book.
Reading ebooks on it would also feel a lot more natural if it could bend in the middle like a real book.
[doublepost=1481908032][/doublepost]I've been curious to hear from someone who has lived with a curved display phone. Is there real benefit? Or just style points? Not future roll up or folding screen. Just a curved screen like the Samsung Edge.
LG's display division is developing and will start mass-producing foldable displays for smartphones in 2018, and supply them to Apple, Google, and Microsoft, according to South Korean website ETNews.
LG has shown off various futuristic-looking curved and foldable display prototypes over the past three years, including one with a book-like design and another that can be rolled up like a newspaper. Both designs take advantage of the flexible property of OLED displays, compared to rigid LCD displays in current iPhones.
LG curved and foldable display prototypes
Multiple rumors point towards Apple releasing a new iPhone with an OLED display and glass casing at the high end of its smartphone lineup next year, but the reports suggest the display will be curved rather than foldable. With more than ten iPhone prototypes in testing, however, the exact design remains to be seen.
The all-new premium model is expected to have at least a 5-inch display, with early rumors claiming it could be up to a 5.8-inch device. Samsung is expected to be the primary--and possibly sole--supplier of OLED displays for Apple, at least until LG joins the mix in 2018 or later if today's report proves to be accurate.
Next year's iPhones could have bezel-free designs and no physical Home buttons, as some reports claim Touch ID will be integrated directly into the display as now possible. Apple has filed patents for flexible OLED displays with both curved and foldable designs, confirming it has at least explored both sides of the coin.
Apple's foldable display patent describes how the display could fold outward, allowing both halves of the screen to remain accessible when the phone is closed shut. The two sides would connect via a clamshell-like hinge that allows them to rotate relative to each other, while flexible printed circuit boards keep the connection intact.
Article Link: LG Said to Supply Apple With Foldable Displays for Future iPhones
Its ironic that for decades progress was making screens flatter. Now we have thin flat panels and curving them is a challenge.
The challenge is to find someone who has a passion for great (Mac) hardware, but sees the big picture (i.e. services, cloud, augmented reality etc)
Someone who has a vision of where Apple is going and what it stands for...not throwing darts at the wall.
Not an easy find.
Unfortunately, the closest to that someone might be Microsoft's, Nadella.
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I think this may be a miscommunication, curved screens are actually flexible OLEDs bonded to a rigid structure with a curve in it.
From the article:
"It is predicted that Apple will introduce iPhones with flexible OLEDs starting from 2017 and compete against Samsung Electronics based on foldable Smartphones and tablets."
So nothing to see here, LG will supply Apple with flexible OLEDs that will be bonded to fixed curves as has been the rumor.
From the article:
"It is predicted that Apple will introduce iPhones with flexible OLEDs starting from 2017 and compete against Samsung Electronics based on foldable Smartphones and tablets."
So nothing to see here, LG will supply Apple with flexible OLEDs that will be bonded to fixed curves as has been the rumor.
I don't care who does it, but someone get the damned Microsoft Courier to market.
The curved one is really neat but how would the components bend behind the display? I know this was a feature long ago of the iPhone 6 Plus ...........
Never underestimate the ability of Jon Ive to add something breakable to a design
Not long if you bend it hard. That's why sharp creases are avoided. See below...
At this point in time, only the display would be flexible.
The circuit/battery section(s), to which the display attaches or is held inside, would still be rigid (possibly hinged) pieces.
There's several main layouts for these things:
1. A rigid primary block... perhaps a cylinder... from which a display unrolls to one side.
2. A rigid hinged case with a foldable display inside
3. A rigid hinged case with two separate flat bezel-less displays inside.
Samsung, for example, has filed a lot of patents related to style #2. It's like having a flexible screen inside of a folding CD case. Here's a patent from 2012:
Or this 2015 one:
Notice that the radius of the fold stays pretty large.
Exactly. That's why everyone is filing patents for all sorts of clever hinge mechanisms.
I wonder how many times they can be bent? Seems after a while you would have it start to fracture.
There already are flexible circuit cards (flex tapes) but the ICs would not bend.
There already are flexible circuit cards (flex tapes) but the ICs would not bend.
You all need to think bigger, and think of the next big thing. Foldable iPads and iPhones etc, just won' t be the next big thing.
What struck me most about this news were the transparent oled screen, which could be ideal for ar and same kind of glasses like the Holo lens, but a lot more portable, lighter, and instead of a projector, see through displays instead of glass.
This could be the new computing platform, instead of having a real tablet or laptop, a virtual screen/tablet laptop is the future .
Won' t happen in the next 4 years though, first we get the foldable devices.
What struck me most about this news were the transparent oled screen, which could be ideal for ar and same kind of glasses like the Holo lens, but a lot more portable, lighter, and instead of a projector, see through displays instead of glass.
This could be the new computing platform, instead of having a real tablet or laptop, a virtual screen/tablet laptop is the future .
Won' t happen in the next 4 years though, first we get the foldable devices.
I think a Surface equivalent of the Courier could very well be the "next big thing" in terms of replacing the written school exercise book/reporters note pad/diary etc.
Longform hand-written writing still dominates many fields - this is a realistic solution.
What they really needed was a Do NOT fold or bend sign.
With my delicate grip, I could see tech companies loving me as a customer of this type of phone.
With my delicate grip, I could see tech companies loving me as a customer of this type of phone.
This would be cool. Starts out as maybe iPhone 7 Plus size, unfold it to become an iPad or something.
But if you notice in the pictures, those displays are all separated into sections, so you lose that nice, large, continuous Retina Display.
Separate sections were popular years ago.
These days, folding concept designs are almost always made from a single display sheet.
Lol if you view that as a foldable screen, I have some bad news for you...
It's all been done before.
