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Samsung Rumored to Launch Fully Bendable Smartphones in 2017
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It's not 2009 anymore. Apple hasn't improved on any existing product or service in years.
Sure we know. For 5 years, Timmy has been saying they have amazing things "in the pipeline". And Over 5 years, we've seen, bigger and smaller ipads, bigger phones. Thinner and less capable computers. And the glorious watch, the pinnacle of Apple ingenuity under Timmy.
Apple's got nothing. 5 years of nothing proves it.
Read the patent...Nice concept Samsung.
It remains to be seen how durable (and practical) those things will be. I have a hard time believing that it wouldn't develop dead pixels/screen distortion within a month of two of folding/unfolding the screen several times a day. If they can achieve this in 2017, kudos to them. But shame on them if they release it knowing it will have problems, just to look innovative.
As for Apple, they don't do concept videos for unannounced products, but they do fill patents...
Apple didn't patent the actual display, just the device housing.
This is also an EU patent, not a US patent.
I had this idea years ago. I've always wanted to design a proper mockup, but never find the time to do it beyond the simple one I made in Illustrator in 2013. I think I've mentioned this before on the forums, but I did some math a while ago and roughly you could take a couple iPhones displays, and the wrap around for the hinge when expanded and that's about the size of an iPad Mini.
In my simple mockup, the display would wrap around one side to the back, so that the hinge is internal, minimizing stress on the flexible display by having it bend on the outside rather than be crunched on the inside. The only thing is that I can't figure out how to do the fold so that it lays flat and is rigid and smooth over the seam on the inside. Oh and glass is kind of a problem.
Given the rumored all glass iPhone for 2017, it would make sense if it had a display front and back and opened up into a tablet. But I think that tech is probably another 3-5 years away to pull it off well—especially while keeping the phone reasonably thin and light! One half could have the logic board and related chips and speakers, the other could have the battery. The biggest problem is what to do with a camera module if your iPhone is split through the middle, halving the maximum thickness of all your components. But that would be the ultimate device! And possibly why Apple is focusing on the iPad Pro being a higher-end, larger device, so it doesn't cannibalize sales too much. That being said, I'd still be willing to pay an extra few hundred bucks to get an iPhone Pad that's an iPhone/iPad Mini combo. Holy crap! It's pretty wild to think about the devices we'll be using in the next 5-10 years.
In my simple mockup, the display would wrap around one side to the back, so that the hinge is internal, minimizing stress on the flexible display by having it bend on the outside rather than be crunched on the inside. The only thing is that I can't figure out how to do the fold so that it lays flat and is rigid and smooth over the seam on the inside. Oh and glass is kind of a problem.
Given the rumored all glass iPhone for 2017, it would make sense if it had a display front and back and opened up into a tablet. But I think that tech is probably another 3-5 years away to pull it off well—especially while keeping the phone reasonably thin and light! One half could have the logic board and related chips and speakers, the other could have the battery. The biggest problem is what to do with a camera module if your iPhone is split through the middle, halving the maximum thickness of all your components. But that would be the ultimate device! And possibly why Apple is focusing on the iPad Pro being a higher-end, larger device, so it doesn't cannibalize sales too much. That being said, I'd still be willing to pay an extra few hundred bucks to get an iPhone Pad that's an iPhone/iPad Mini combo. Holy crap! It's pretty wild to think about the devices we'll be using in the next 5-10 years.
I'm more excited about what this might mean for unbreakable display tech. Also, it bends, but how scratch resistant i sit?
Spoken like like someone who runs a multibillion dollar company, right? You know, like because you know how to run one..."creatively bankrupt"??!!! Really? Creatively bankrupt and yet owns approximately 90% of the phone industry profits. Some people just can't reason things out.
Yeah, much like the Samsung Note. 5+" screen is so gimmicky.
Why? You do realize that the rest of the phone (most importantly the battery) is not bendable, right? So essentially you now have the technology to create a fancy Nintendo DX...
Sure you can (maybe) prevent a seam in the display but it's not clear that you REALLY can, or that you even want to --- you probably want a visible bending seam.
So what's new here? We have the ability to create a clamshell touch-phone, which is an ability we had the day the iPhone 1 launched.
Personally I actually think a clamshell touch-phone IS a good idea, and it has amazed me for five years that no-one has done this (yet another example of "If it can't be copied from Apple, no-one ever actually does it...") but I don't see this new flexible screen as an especially enabling technology for the clamshell. Just as five years ago, the form factor will live or die based on other factors. (For example double an iPhone 6 thickness is now fairly chunky...; and how does the clamshell bending point affect waterproofing?)
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Exactly! I am still mad that my 2009 Apple Watch hasn't been updated in seven years! And we were promised voice recognition (something called Siri?) in 2011 --- what happened to that? And those rumors about Apple making their own CPUs, and their own mapping service --- all nonsense apparently...
Perhaps if you actually LOOKED at
(a) the dates products and services were released
(b) the changes to each of these products and services each year?...
Fugly device. That´s probably why they don´t really show it longer than 2 seconds.
I wonder how it is to pull this thing out of your pocket while taking care not to unfold it by accident. Will there be one of this "nice" buttons like those "beautiful" leather cases com with?
But of course, there is potential as soon as another company besides Samsung picks this up.
Samsung´s ads are really annoying. Tech savvy guys and a good looking, naive woman...
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There is a new iPhone every year... I do not even know what to wish for at this point. Speed: great. Display: great. Battery: great (business tasks, not a gamer). Navigation: great. Sports tracking with speed and altitude: great.
With your logic, cars have not improved since 30, 50 or 100 years.
So, if you have a real idea for an improvement name it or accept that it is no longer 2009 and innovation cannot be expected like back then.
I wonder how it is to pull this thing out of your pocket while taking care not to unfold it by accident. Will there be one of this "nice" buttons like those "beautiful" leather cases com with?
But of course, there is potential as soon as another company besides Samsung picks this up.
Samsung´s ads are really annoying. Tech savvy guys and a good looking, naive woman...
[doublepost=1465324730][/doublepost]
There is a new iPhone every year... I do not even know what to wish for at this point. Speed: great. Display: great. Battery: great (business tasks, not a gamer). Navigation: great. Sports tracking with speed and altitude: great.
With your logic, cars have not improved since 30, 50 or 100 years.
So, if you have a real idea for an improvement name it or accept that it is no longer 2009 and innovation cannot be expected like back then.
Well, based on your post, the vast majority of comments on this topic should be discounted as none of us have run a multi-billion dollar corporation. I don't believe your comment does much to discredit the growing narrative that Cook is failing as the CEO. By the way, who conceived the iPhone / App concept (the CREATIVITY portion) and brought it to market? Not Timmy.....
Not having a visible seam is the whole point.
This idea is to have a large flexible internal display piece that can fold over, mounted inside of a rigid hinged outer case that holds the electronics (and protects everything when closed).
A second rigid display on the outside (of various sizes, depending on its purpose) would be used when the inside display is folded closed.
--
While it's a logical next step to combine phones and tablets, you might be right that it'll find a harder market as a vertical clamshell device.
Looking around at the way many people carry their phones, I'm thinking that a very flexible shape which can be put in a back pocket and sat upon without damage, would be even more popular
You completely missed the point. The point was about the nonsense still being spewed that Apple still takes other products and services and makes them better. It hasn't been true in years. Siri? Really? You think that is an improvement on Google Now? Try actually using it. You think the iPhone is an improvement on the tech that Samsung is bringing to the table now?
Fugly device. That´s probably why they don´t really show it longer than 2 seconds.
I wonder how it is to pull this thing out of your pocket while taking care not to unfold it by accident. Will there be one of this "nice" buttons like those "beautiful" leather cases com with?
But of course, there is potential as soon as another company besides Samsung picks this up.
Samsung´s ads are really annoying. Tech savvy guys and a good looking, naive woman...
[doublepost=1465324730][/doublepost]
There is a new iPhone every year... I do not even know what to wish for at this point. Speed: great. Display: great. Battery: great (business tasks, not a gamer). Navigation: great. Sports tracking with speed and altitude: great.
With your logic, cars have not improved since 30, 50 or 100 years.
So, if you have a real idea for an improvement name it or accept that it is no longer 2009 and innovation cannot be expected like back then.
Tim Cook is not a failure. Apple has risen to insane heights under him. But of course, everyone inconveniently forgets. It's getting nauseating coming here. If the company doesn't release a products that blows your mind every 6 months, they are doooomed, dooooomed, dooooomed. What other bloody company is blowing your mind? I can't name one. The unreasonable expectations armchair CEO's here have is HILARIOUS.
Of course NO ONE appreciates that Apple has gone from a big polluter to 100% renewable energy in under 3 years. And of course NO ONE appreciates the new robot that dismantles old iPhones to reuse materials and slow down on the mining of materials that are causing environmental issues around the world. Nope, not good enough for the selfish people here! And the new campus they are building which runs itself on renewable energy? Nope - crappy too. It's got to be about them, them, them, them. I would rather Apple get their values straight before running into a new category that makes us all NEED NEED NEED making the world a worse place. The I can buy knowing the company I choose actually is not contributing to the earth's decline.
My iPhone, iPad, iMac, Apple Watch has made my life incredibly enjoyable and easy. I will wait to see what they have in store.
Apple have some serious catching up to do if this becomes a reality, Apple are about to introduce samsungs curved edge screen on NEXT years iPhone, that's already a two year old design for Samsung.
I think this bendable device would be the tipping point for me, and I can't remember the last time I haven't had an iPhone.
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They had working prototypes of this tech over three years ago.
Samsung bendable screens CES 2013:
I think this bendable device would be the tipping point for me, and I can't remember the last time I haven't had an iPhone.
[doublepost=1465328346][/doublepost]
They had working prototypes of this tech over three years ago.
Samsung bendable screens CES 2013:
That was my first thought! Think the girl him her real business card or just one she found on
the counter?
[doublepost=1465329314][/doublepost]
Apple is going to kil it with new watchband tech.
No issues so far. Holds for one day of my usage without a problem. I charge my phone at night.
2.1 system. Next iPhone will have a sub.
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And they could call the 128 the bass model. Ta da!
Cars have not improved? Okay try driving a car from 30 years ago compared to today. Obviously you have never sat in a modern car.Fugly device. That´s probably why they don´t really show it longer than 2 seconds.
I wonder how it is to pull this thing out of your pocket while taking care not to unfold it by accident. Will there be one of this "nice" buttons like those "beautiful" leather cases com with?
But of course, there is potential as soon as another company besides Samsung picks this up.
Samsung´s ads are really annoying. Tech savvy guys and a good looking, naive woman...
[doublepost=1465324730][/doublepost]
There is a new iPhone every year... I do not even know what to wish for at this point. Speed: great. Display: great. Battery: great (business tasks, not a gamer). Navigation: great. Sports tracking with speed and altitude: great.
With your logic, cars have not improved since 30, 50 or 100 years.
So, if you have a real idea for an improvement name it or accept that it is no longer 2009 and innovation cannot be expected like back then.
[doublepost=1465331924][/doublepost]Okay .... So where's the battery going? Nice try Samsung.
Smartphone maker and display manufacturer Samsung is believed to launch a pair of smartphones in early 2017, each with a bendable OLED display. According to people familiar with the smartphones' development (via Bloomberg), the two devices could be unveiled as early as Q1 2017 -- potentially at Mobile World Congress in February -- and come in two different sizes, similar to that of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
Bendable smartphone mockup by Samsung
One phone would have a 5-inch screen when used in a normal handset fashion, and could then be opened to a tablet size that's "as large as 8 inches." The smaller alternative is estimated to be sized around a traditional modern 5-inch smartphone, but users would have the ability to fold it in half "like a cosmetic compact" to easily fit it into bags and pockets.
Codenamed "Project Valley," the bendable smartphones won't be Samsung's new flagship devices, and are believed to be angled more as an experiment by the company to test the waters of user response to bendable screens. Because of this, the two new handhelds also won't fall under the Galaxy S line of phones currently running by Samsung, but will be newly named entries in its collection of smartphones.
While not bendable, Apple's 2017 iPhone is expected to pack in a curved OLED display with an edge-to-edge, bezel-free design, similar to that of Samsung's Galaxy S7 smartphone. Overall, Apple's "iPhone 8" is expected to be a huge update year for the company's smartphone, following 2016's internals-focused upgrade, so it'll be interesting to see how the the two handhelds fare against each other when they launch.
Article Link: Samsung Rumored to Launch Fully Bendable Smartphones in 2017
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To power both screens it's likely it would need a battery either side and unless Samsung has a new revolutionary battery in the works this concept is also unlikely to be as slim as portrayed.