Samsung Rumored to Launch Fully Bendable Smartphones in 2017

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Just because it's different doesn't mean it's functional.

Just because we worship a single company doesn't mean we should jump to such conclusions. Maybe it won't be functional but maybe it will. I personally like competition rather than finding fault with everything such competition does just because they are not named Apple. Even if this doesn't get anywhere, it might push Apple to "think different" instead of just "thinner" and "thinner" and "thinner."

I never see threads filling with people griping about how thick their iPhones are... not in years and years now. But I do see much longing for "innovation"... especially tangible, meaningful innovation that is not mostly tweaking the "as is." Is this at least trying to be more innovative than "thinner"? I think so.

 

[malexandria]

Apple invented it. Does it Bend? Why, yes it does!

 

[2457282]

I have seen bendable screen technology at work. It is cool and can lead to interesting applications. However, a perfectly foldable screen so that you can close it....not quite there yet. What I have seen is bendable to the point of overlapping. But because it is not foldable but bendable it mean that it adds significant thickness when closed. Obviously not something that Apple would go for. See video below for an example. However, the idea of carrying a phone that can open up to the size of an ipad pro is exiting. Only one device to carry.

 

[jerryk]

Samsung has been at this a while. Here is a video from 2009

Here is one from 2013. Look familiar.

I bet this is what they use in the S7 Edge.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Great idea, but man is that video just wrong. Essentially "get this and chicks will dig you". Then ends with, "never mind, this woman just throws herself at men with high end gadgets".

Exactly right. We know that what women really want is a man with a fractionally thinner phone with a headphone adapter "tail" hanging out of the Lightning port.

 

[themel]

Why on earth?

 

[Jax44]

This has the faint odor of Ballmer and the Microsoft Courier.

 

[nt5672]

This will allow smartphones to become more compact, there are many possibilities - i.e., improved eBooks readers.. this all looks great.

Meanwhile.. Apple will pushing a thinner, faster, and OLED display iPhone in 2017......

But the good news is that Apple's phones will become so thin that you can actually see through them. Then we'll have 4 finger swipe to control the opaqueness.

 

[radiology]

f¥€k yeah!!! This looks like a great idea.

Wake up, Tim!!!!!

 

[anomie]

Next week...

"Apple Rumored to Launch Fully Bendable Smartphones in 2020"

Hopefully. Let the others do it the cheap way and then come up and show them how to do it the real way.
Just like iPhone 1 which by far was not the first smartphone.
[doublepost=1465307874][/doublepost]

I could be tempted back to Samsung if these ever become a reality!

Good bye! Although I am sure the will setup an emergency meeting in Cupertino once they read about losing a valuable customer like you..

 

[neohavix]

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

As with any material, when you bend it, over time, it will leave a mark. The question then becomes, how many bends can this material handle before we a glut of lawsuits?

 

[Skika]

I predict a half baked product whose consumers will be beta testers.

 

[jkichline]

Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. Personally, I think it's a dumb idea for a phone and would be clunky. It could have application as a general reading apparatus like a digital magazine. But it's about as useful as a curved TV that limits your field of view.

Personally, I miss the days when I could use a phone with one hand and my thumb. Now it takes two hands. Folding the display and making it bigger will definitely require two hands and more dexterity for use. Again, there could be a form factor where this fits, but just because something is "interesting" does not make it "useful".

 

[69Mustang]

If Apple did this, you'd see these comments:

'I've seen bendable things before. This isn't innovation.'

But since Samsung is doing this, it's 'innovation'.

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.

 

[2ilent8cho]

No doubt Apple already have something like this in their secret lab.

 

[Phil A.]

Good bye! Although I am sure the will setup an emergency meeting in Cupertino once they read about losing a valuable customer like you..

You need to be careful you don't cut yourself with that razor sharp wit

 

[ryanlindner]

Once again apple is behind the 8 ball. Samsung just innovating like crazy. Meanwhile apple is making an iphone 7 with "stereo speakers"!!!! And the same form factor of 2 gens ago LAMEEEEEE

 

[69Mustang]

We wish picking up girls WAS that easy...

Of all the companies,, only Samsung could actually take this "bend-gate" thing so serious.... And every one will just say it's cool...

Ironically, but when its used for other purposes like "testing the strength of a phone" we have a change of mind... When does this stop ...

This IS bendable, but its anything BUT cool.... I already have something that bends... its called a wallet.

What? Look at the video on Youtube. It was published in 2013. Bendgate wasn't even a thing. When does this stop? It stops when we stop making up irrational conspiracy theories.

 

[RedOrchestra]

No doubt Apple already have something like this in their secret lab.

When do you think it'll be consumer ready?

 

[Leonard1818]

What a weird video/commercial... Very weird movements, words, timing, everything just did not seem natural. And the poor woman in there... I can see the director now: "just sit there and look pretty, act like you're blown away by these technology bits and that you're onto whatever guy has the coolest tech".... ugh.

A folding smartphone would be neat, that's for sure... But no need to get all excited until it gets here or closer to here. For now, I'll stick to critiquing the weird video versus the vaporware.

 

[a.gomez]

And for Apple's big debut.... 2017 iPhone has THREE stereo speakers. Innovation, here we come.

AND a black theme!

 

[69Mustang]

Just because it's different doesn't mean it's functional.

Doesn't mean it's not either.

/other side of coin

 

[AJ5790]

What's the point? Honest question.
[doublepost=1465308863][/doublepost]

If Apple did this, you'd see these comments:

'I've seen bendable things before. This isn't innovation.'

But since Samsung is doing this, it's 'innovation'.

Thank you.
[doublepost=1465308921][/doublepost]

Once again apple is behind the 8 ball. Samsung just innovating like crazy. Meanwhile apple is making an iphone 7 with "stereo speakers"!!!! And the same form factor of 2 gens ago LAMEEEEEE

Lol. Samsung innovating. You may be on a different planet.

 

[YakAttack]

Just because we worship a single company doesn't mean we should jump to such conclusions. Maybe it won't be functional but maybe it will. I personally like competition rather than finding fault with everything such competition does just because they are not named Apple. Even if this doesn't get anywhere, it might push Apple to "think different" instead of just "thinner" and "thinner" and "thinner."

I never see threads filling with people griping about how thick their iPhones are... not in years and years now. But I do see much longing for "innovation"... especially tangible, meaningful innovation that is not mostly tweaking the "as is." Is this at least trying to be more innovative than "thinner"? I think so.

Tell me, what problem does a bendable phone solve? What function does it serve? Would you enjoy typing on a transparency or a sheet of paper?

 

[Macwick]

Crease-gate