Samsung Rumored to Launch Fully Bendable Smartphones in 2017

[name99]

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?

Siri was released in 2011; Google Now in 2012.
If you're going to make claims about who is copying who, you might want to get the details right...

There is a more general point here. Apple has never claimed that their strength is being FIRST, with technology; their strength is OPTIMIZING the USAGE of technology. If you want first-run technology, Samsung will happily sell that to you. But then don't complain when it doesn't actually seem very useful after the excitement of the first few minutes wears off. cf Samsung Beam. cf Samsung Edge. cf the first round of Android fingerprint readers.

IF Apple ships with a curved edge smartphone (and I am not especially convinced that they will) I DO however suspect that the curved edge will actually provide some genuine functionality, that someone in Apple has spent two years figuring out a use for it.

And, BTW, I was an early adopter of Google Now. It obviously works well for some people, but I have found that it is of very little use for me --- perhaps because my life is not especially structured, so that attempts to predict what might be useful to me are not especially accurate. I also found (and continue to find) the low information density of the Cards UI to be painful to deal with.

This is not to say it's useless. IMHO the functionality of automatically extracting delivery information and travel information out of the email stream is useful. BUT it is also something easily available through other means on iOS if you want; in my case I get this functionality via the Slice app (deliveries) and the Tripit app. I've not found Google Now to be any more functional than these two.
There IS something to be said for having the OS vendor support this sort of minor functionality, just so as to make life a little simpler. And if Apple cared about my opinion, they would at least make this sort of email analysis an opt-in feature. But I think it's misleading to present the impression that Google Now is so superior to anything available to an IOS user. As is usually the case with technology, the issue is NOT that you can do A and I can't it is that you do A using procedure 1, I use procedure 2, but you are unwilling to admit that procedure 2 exists, or that it is for most purposes pretty much equivalent to procedure 1, just different.

You would do better, IMHO, to argue in praise of something like Project Fi. Here we have what I consider to be genuinely useful functionality that Apple has no equivalent for; and that I think has the potential to actually matter. (In the sense that the willful stupidity of the existing telco's is the strongest constraint on truly disruptive innovation by Android or iOS, and Google has started to build a escape route in a way that Apple has not obviously done so. [Perhaps Apple has been working on such a plan --- god knows I have been telling my friends in Apple to do so for around five years. But certainly, as of right now, we have no such evidence of a Apple Project Fi equivalent.]

 

[Boosf]

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

[doublepost=1465333917][/doublepost]Meh....it's been done.

 

[petsounds]

Have to give credit where it's due. Great concept, hope it's implemented well. I would love to carry a normal sized phone in my pocket, then flip it open to watch a movie or read a book.

It wouldn't be normal-sized though, it would have to be twice as thick. Think about the 6s, which is about as thin a smartphone can really be without being ridiculous to hold in the hand. Now double that size. Not something I'd want in my pocket.

 

[Skijacket]

Could you... maybe once... just try to comment on the actual topic instead of unnecessarily coming to Apple's defense when there's nothing that needs to be defended? I'm confident there's more to you than "must defend Apple". Show it every once in while. What do you actually think about the tech? It's possible applications? Apple adopting it and coming up with a never before seen application?

Flexible OLED is innovative, and no, Samsung didn't invent it. There are several companies working on similar tech. Getting a product like this out of the lab and actually into the consumer market would be innovative. But in no way is it a knock against Apple. Hell, Apple isn't known as a first to market innovator or risk taker. They are known for taking previously created tech and innovating improvements of that tech and integrating it into a cohesive platform. That's perfectly fine and has proven to be strategy that has worked tremendously. Conversely, Samsung is more of a risk taker. Somebody has to be. Around here, it's called "throw it against the wall". Some of it works, some doesn't. Even the stuff that doesn't initially work sometimes gets picked up by another company and improved. It's a different means to an end. Not a slight against Apple.

Or there's the Google method "throw it against a wall and pull the plug before it actually hits it".

 

[drumcat]

This design is entirely idiotic. It's very possible that a large phone could have two-sided screens that then fold out. No one is going to put two *separate* screens in a device. That's just a gigantic waste. Just expect an inverted clamshell... I hate these unreasonable "future tech" things.

 

[iWilliam325]

i find this technology going backward, even if it's possible, it's just a gimmick thing, concept might be ok but totally useless

 

[farmboy]

Once again apple is behind the 8 ball. Samsung just innovating like crazy.

Prototype, not a product. An idea, not a reality. Apple, among others, has had flexible screen designs and patents for years. Equally viable at this point, or equally vaporware. Unless this ends up considerably thinner than a normal phone, with no screen durability issues, I'm not seeing the advantages yet.

 

[CFreymarc]

ANYTHING that is has mechanical motion wears, deforms and fatigues. While making a flexible display is impressive, how many "folds" does of this screen does it take for a loss in display quality is noticed? Also, like paper, you can curve it but if you do a hard fold, do any inner workings break? How the display compromise if you crease it?

IMO, the ultimate flexible display would be a nano-tech cloth weaving with active pixels embedded in threads of the material. Thus, you can wear it, fold it, iron it and the active pixels in the threads making the cloth would still be active display elements. Imagine clothing with downloadable and animated patterns! This is the type of stuff Gibson and other cyberpunk authors talked about thirty years ago envisioning "close to skin" technologies. This current wearable tech wave just starts to touch their visions.

 

[asfdasdf]

i find this technology going backward, even if it's possible, it's just a gimmick thing, concept might be ok but totally useless

How is a 7-8'' screen fitting in your pocket totally useless.

Pure macrumors

 

[magicschoolbus]

It's not 2009 anymore. Apple hasn't improved on any existing product or service in years.

I never said that they have. I'm in support of those saying the product line has gotten crowded and the company has lost focus on what it does and what it does well.

 

[redscull]

A bendable phone screen kills 2 birds with one stone- you have a phone-sized "phone" when you want a phone and a tablet-sized screen when you want more screen real estate. That seems like a win compared to carrying 2 separate devices to accomplish the same.

I don't really see the point of having a device that takes the size of two devices to have a device that can occupy 2 functions. Maybe in some use cases, but if I want to have a phone in my pocket, I want the best possible device that can fit in my pocket, not a double sized phone. It's called optimization.

I too would rather benefit from whatever tech made it possible to to have two phones so thin that you could fold them together, and just have one phone (with no tablet-mode foldout) at half the thickness of the clamshell thing. I really don't see the point of a phone that expands into a bigger tablet screen. Any time I'm not using it expanded out, I'm wasting part of the device.. holding hardware that's serving literally no purpose.

Convertible devices are just meh. I'd rather my devices excel at their purpose than be mediocre at multiple things.

Where I think this tech is more interesting is on actual tablets. None of this dual-mode transformer nonsense, but rather, a tablet with a fairly large screen that still folds/rolls up compact for transport, so you could fit it in your pocket.

 

[kdarling]

Okay .... So where's the battery going? Nice try Samsung.

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.

Sounds like you don't understand the concept in the video.

It's not a flexible case. It's a single flexible screen inside of a hinged rigid case. There only needs to be a single rigid battery to power it.

Here, I made a side view derived from some of Samsung's patents:

Yes, it'll have to be a bit thick to accommodate the room they want to give the fold radius, to prevent a destructive sharp crease. Many of their patents deal with clever hinge designs that maximize the radius while being as unobtrusive as possible.

So, at this point in the technology, I don't think it's intended for teenagers who put phones in slim jean pockets.

But for those of us with bigger pants or shirt pockets, or even business coats, it'll be fine at this point in time. In the future, no doubt it'll get thinner and able to have a sharper fold.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I too would rather benefit from whatever tech made it possible to to have two phones so thin that you could fold them together, and just have one phone (with no tablet-mode foldout) at half the thickness of the clamshell thing. I really don't see the point of a phone that expands into a bigger tablet screen. Any time I'm not using it expanded out, I'm wasting part of the device.. holding hardware that's serving literally no purpose.

Convertible devices are just meh. I'd rather my devices excel at their purpose than be mediocre at multiple things.

Where I think this tech is more interesting is on actual tablets. None of this dual-mode transformer nonsense, but rather, a tablet with a fairly large screen that still folds/rolls up compact for transport, so you could fit it in your pocket.

Then try looking at this that way. It's not a phone that folds out into a tablet; it's a tablet that folds down into a phone-sized device... that even works like a traditional phone, when you need phone functions.

You basically say you like the idea of a tablet that folds or rolls down into a compact, pocketable size. This is that too.

 

[69Mustang]

Any time I'm not using it expanded out, I'm wasting part of the device.. holding hardware that's serving literally no purpose.

Figuratively. It's not a vestigial tail.

This makes no sense. Which device do use 100% of it's functionality at all times?

 

[FatMax]

Huh wtf how is this even possible

^*mind blown*

 

[paul4339]

...
Yes, it'll have to be a bit thick to accommodate the room they want to give the fold radius, to prevent a destructive sharp crease.

So, at this point in the technology, I don't think it's intended for teenagers who put phones in slim jean pockets.

But for those of us with bigger pants or shirt pockets, or even business coats, it'll be fine at this point in time. In the future, no doubt it'll get thinner and able to have a sharper fold.

Reminds me of that MS Courier... of course, there will be a host of other engineering problems and questions of benefits.

A lot of this stuff reminds me of a "Detroit auto show", they'll showcase the floor with a some fancy prototype that can be made (to add splash and get media attention).. but the actual product never sees the day of light or is vaguely like the prototype.

.

 

[Souponastick270]

Bet you a bending/folding phone from Samsung wouldn't come with a 16GB base model

 

[Deuce on the Clock]

Apple already made bendable iPhones. Way to be a copy cat Samsung.

 

[kdarling]

A lot of this stuff reminds me of a "Detroit auto show", they'll showcase the floor with a some fancy prototype that can be made (to add splash and get media attention).. but the actual product never sees the day of light or is vaguely like the prototype.

Yep, there's always some of that. At the same time, even unfeasible car concepts often have radical features that eventually trickle down to production models. E.g. multimedia systems, WiFi hot spots, radar cruise control, auto braking, heads up displays, IR night vision, remote phone control.

Likewise, in the smartphone world, there were plenty of all-touch phone concepts, prototypes and even low production models over the years. Some of their concept ideas clearly were picked up (or reinvented) by Apple for their own iPhone... from pinch zoom to an orientation sensor for flipping the screen.

The first folding phones will probably be clunky, like the first clamshell cell phones were. Eventually someone makes a Razr and popularity skyrockets

 

[redscull]

Figuratively. It's not a vestigial tail.

This makes no sense. Which device do use 100% of it's functionality at all times?

I stand by my use of "literally" in this context.

Your point is fair that I'm never using 100% of a device's hardware at all times. But in this clamshell thing, we're talking about a pretty big chunk of hardware. Maybe even like half the device, depending on how it's built. Half the device just hidden away, still taking up space in my hand, not doing anything.

As a user, I feel like I'd be compelled to always unfold it. I mean, if it has a much bigger screen, why would I not use that much bigger screen? Unless it's cumbersome to deploy, wouldn't I always want to unfold it and use its full potential? And if it is cumbersome, well that's a whole other problem. I feel like I'd always unfold and use the big screen; I'd only have it folded in small mode to talk on it next to my ear, or to stow it, and neither of those uses needs a screen.

I'm not against the idea of the folding. I think the book-like design is cool enough to at least consider, even if I'd probably still opt for an overall smaller device (I'm an iPhone SE owner). But I think the separate screen on the outside of the book is stupid. That should just be some kind of minimal power maybe even eInk or series of LEDs thing for notifications. But I still don't think it makes for a great phone design. Now, a fold out tablet, that would be awesome. It has a different purpose for me where the bigger screen plus improved portability would be amazing.

 

[kepler20b]

samsung is pretty much market leader when it comes to OLED for phones.

There's no chance that they would ever sell bend-able OLEDs to Apple without a crazy markup or already having an enormous marketshare of bendable phones and a strong product pipeline in place.

So APple wont even be allowed to buy or use bendable OLEDs for a very long time anyway.

 

[redscull]

Then try looking at this that way. It's not a phone that folds out into a tablet; it's a tablet that folds down into a phone-sized device... that even works like a traditional phone, when you need phone functions.

You basically say you like the idea of a tablet that folds or rolls down into a compact, pocketable size. This is that too.

I still think having both an exterior phone-sized screen and an interior tablet-sized screen is a waste. I'd rather it just had the internal big screen and save whatever cost, weight, thinness, etc I could by eliminating that extra small screen on the outside. As long as I could hold it up to my ear in folded mode to answer and talk on it like a phone, then it's handling that phone job well enough. And it could use voice commands to place calls while folded up. I only need to unfold it for the screen when I'm doing more complex tasks. Phone calls are not complex tasks; there's just no need for phone mode to have its own screen, aside from notifications. But slapping on a whole extra screen for notifications seems like a waste. It could easily have a more minimal LED strip or Edge or something for that.

 

[69Mustang]

I stand by my use of "literally" in this context.

Your point is fair that I'm never using 100% of a device's hardware at all times. But in this clamshell thing, we're talking about a pretty big chunk of hardware. Maybe even like half the device, depending on how it's built. Half the device just hidden away, still taking up space in my hand, not doing anything.

As a user, I feel like I'd be compelled to always unfold it. I mean, if it has a much bigger screen, why would I not use that much bigger screen? Unless it's cumbersome to deploy, wouldn't I always want to unfold it and use its full potential? And if it is cumbersome, well that's a whole other problem. I feel like I'd always unfold and use the big screen; I'd only have it folded in small mode to talk on it next to my ear, or to stow it, and neither of those uses needs a screen.

I'm not against the idea of the folding. I think the book-like design is cool enough to at least consider, even if I'd probably still opt for an overall smaller device (I'm an iPhone SE owner). But I think the separate screen on the outside of the book is stupid. That should just be some kind of minimal power maybe even eInk or series of LEDs thing for notifications. But I still don't think it makes for a great phone design. Now, a fold out tablet, that would be awesome. It has a different purpose for me where the bigger screen plus improved portability would be amazing.

Feel free to stick with literally as long as you like. Couple of things. 1. You do realize the video is nearly 4 years old right? I'm going to go out on a limb and say the design of the rumored hybrid device would reflect Samsung's current design language. We'll disagree on big chunk of hardware since the guy literally<-- tee hee -- put it in a shirt pocket. 2. Why would you feel compelled to always unfold it? Making a call, checking notifications, sending a text - use the small screen. Watching a movie/video, working on a document, playing games - larger screen. Pretty simple. At least to me it is. 3. The scenarios you built to support your narrative are, honestly, pretty shaky. Cumbersome Based on what exactly? Couldn't have been anything in the video. Always want to open to big screen. Why exactly? To check a notification, answer/make a call, or read/reply to a text.

The device would clearly be a marketed as a hybrid device that eliminates the need for a phone and a tablet. BTW - dual screen with eInk? Already been done.

 

[spinedoc77]

Awesome, man Samsung is running on all cylinders this year. Foldable phones will be a game changer, IF IF IF they do it right, and that's a big fat huge IF. But if it takes away the need for a tablet, then I'm all in.
[doublepost=1465343827][/doublepost]

Apple already made bendable iPhones. Way to be a copy cat Samsung.

Yep, all Samsung does is copy, they never innovate. Look at the upcoming Note 7, now why did Samsung have to steal the number 7 from Apple ?!?!
[doublepost=1465343924][/doublepost]

I still think having both an exterior phone-sized screen and an interior tablet-sized screen is a waste. I'd rather it just had the internal big screen and save whatever cost, weight, thinness, etc I could by eliminating that extra small screen on the outside. As long as I could hold it up to my ear in folded mode to answer and talk on it like a phone, then it's handling that phone job well enough. And it could use voice commands to place calls while folded up. I only need to unfold it for the screen when I'm doing more complex tasks. Phone calls are not complex tasks; there's just no need for phone mode to have its own screen, aside from notifications. But slapping on a whole extra screen for notifications seems like a waste. It could easily have a more minimal LED strip or Edge or something for that.

Yeah I could see this, with a minimal LED strip on the top. I'd rather they kept it as thin as something folded in half could be, instead of adding thickness with another screen. Although I suppose it depends how much it folds out, I don't know if I want to foldout a 8" phone and talk on it.
[doublepost=1465344107][/doublepost]

It wouldn't be normal-sized though, it would have to be twice as thick. Think about the 6s, which is about as thin a smartphone can really be without being ridiculous to hold in the hand. Now double that size. Not something I'd want in my pocket.

A double thickness 6s that folds out into a much larger tablet like screen? I'd be first in line for that. I think we've just gotten spoiled the past couple of years with these razor thin phones. I guess it depends on your needs, if you need a small tablet when you are out and about or if you are happy enough just with a phone. Certainly many are happy just with their phones. Me, I always miss having my tablet on me when I'm out.

 

[Darrin Bell]

Flimsy, bendable, plastic phones that have the fortitude of a candy wrapper. That's the future?

Well... maybe. Candy wrappers don't shatter when you drop them. The more it bends, the less it breaks.