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Phone/Tablet combination is rather appealing, couple that with USB-C and this can dock to accessories. One device to rule the business persons carry-on technology. Apple users will be carrying around their iPhone, iPad and/or MB/A/P with them.

Sounds expensive.
 
Except everything from the Note being “borrowed” by others including Apple? Like the big OLED screen, Spen, depth control?
Remember Apple doesn't even borrow but rather refine. I am sure once the iPad has cursor support the toaster + fridge would no longer be applicable just as gorilla arm syndrome when using the iPad Pro as a PC replacement.
 
Code-m. Are you just going to berate all MR folks for the rest of this post or are you going to offer something constructive to the conversation?
And Google will publicly beta test it for that entire time, while Apple improves it.

If they even do it at all.

Honestly this is something I just haven’t been behind ever since its conception years ago. It just looks awkward and uncomfortable. Unless they can somehow make it as thin as current phones, while folded... which doesn’t seem very likely any time soon. I certainly don’t want to carry around a brick.
 
Wake me when this is something consumers can actually buy.
I mean it's not like it's a product announcement. How's that AirPower coming along? It's been MIA for the last 14 months since it was announced.
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The iPhone definitely helped shine the way forward. Android simply needed to copy it and the rest as we know it is history.
Technically the Essential Phone invented the notch that Apple made a trend and all Android phones later copied.
 
can’t wait for Apple to invent this and fingerprint reader behind the screen.
 
A thick black box with a screen.

No, you're confusing it with the iPhone 8 and all other iPhones before it. This folding game changer here, is real innovation. Already announced to be released next year. I say this will be out before Apple's wireless charging Maxipad. Apple can't even do a wireless charging Maxipad. What a complete joke of a company. Bring on 2019.
 
This foldable phone is laughable. Let’s take a black Radio Shack metal box and place a small screen on the front and a big plastic screen inside. Seriously. That thing looked incredibly thick and unbearably uncomfortable. They still can’t learn from Apple when it comes to initial product launches.
I will give you a hint. It's not a product launch. It's like the AirPower from 14 months ago. It will probably take Samsung just as long to release the foldable phone.
 
Nope since it's inside a case. If you watch the stream you'll see on how they say it's the thinnest phone they have ever made.
No... They didn’t say that. They said it’s the thinnest display. Now multiply that by 3 when folded.

Not to mention it doesn’t even fold completely evenly. The hinge leaves a gap.
 
They said coming 2018, so they have almost 2 more months, then you can start complaining.
And Samsung said in the coming months for this foldable phone and yet here you were complaining about it???
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I sincerely hope Apple never copies this. I like my screens solid and unbendable
They will...kinda like phablet phones
 
I love the idea… they made a point to lower the lights so all we see is the screen and not the ginormously thick body and bezels. I understand they don't want to reveal the design… but why now? Love the idea, and once the tech can get even better… Apple will create something that is designed better.
Apple hasn't outdesigned Samsung yet, they simply have been copying their work for the past several years.
 



At its 2018 Developer Conference, Samsung today showed off its new foldable display technology, called Infinity Flex.

Samsung is using the Infinity Flex technology for a device that features 7.3-inch flexible display that can be folded in half. While in full screen mode, the device is meant to be used as a tablet, and when folded in half, it functions as a smartphone.

Samsung's Infinity Flex demo begins at about one hour and 22 minutes into the developer conference video
Samsung says that the Infinity Flex display is the "future of mobile display technology" and the foundation for the "smartphone of tomorrow."Samsung says that that to design the Infinity Flex technology, it had to invent new materials and reimagine the display from the ground up. The company developed an advanced composite polymer that's "flexible and tough" to replace the glass that's usually used as a display cover in smartphones.

samsunginfinityflexclosed.jpg

Samsung also developed a flexible, malleable adhesive that's durable enough to withstand hundreds of thousands of folds, and to make the display thinner than ever, Samsung created a new ultra thin polarizer that's 45 percent thinner than the technology used in its current displays.

samsunginfinityflexopen.jpg

A new software platform is being developed in partnership with Google that supports two UIs, one when the device is open and one when it's closed. Features like app continuity will allow for a seamless experience by keeping an app open when swapping displays, and up to three apps can be run at the same time.


According to Samsung, the Infinity Flex technology shown off on stage is part of an upcoming device that had elements of the design obscured. Samsung says that the device is not a concept, and that thanks to breakthroughs in manufacturing, mass production of the foldable smartphone/tablet is set to begin "in the coming months."

In the future, Samsung also plans to introduce new display technology that includes rollable and stretchable displays.

Article Link: Samsung Shows Off Prototype Smartphone With Foldable Display
 
I will give you a hint. It's not a product launch. It's like the AirPower from 14 months ago. It will probably take Samsung just as long to release the foldable phone.
One thing the prototype proves is that manufactuers are holding back when it comes to screens, otherwise we would have truly unbreakable screens.
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Apple NEVER copies. They only refine ideas.
Oh, they absolutely copy: GUI, Trash Can, Mouse, iPhone (other companies made smart phones first), The iPhone X is pretty much a rip off of the Galaxy S9 series. The list goes on and on, they really didn't make any major improvements and took several steps backwards in many of their designs.
 
Wow. Increadble. Could this be the next big thing? Will Apple be the next blackberry in this situation for failing to innovate in the smart phone world like BB did in ‘07?
 
I don’t buy for a second that this thing is thick to hide how cool it really looks. It’s thick because (when folded) you have 3 screens on top of each other and 2 batteries on top of each other. Of course it’s thick. When battery technology advances and screens get even more thin, their research can pay off, but for now, it’s going to have to be pretty ugly, and sure looks like it will be.
I guess it was mentioned its in a case to hide how it really looks because they want to keep the device mostly a secret till its fully revealed.
 
It’s funny the impact Steve Jobs had on product presentation. I can still see everyone coming out and emulating the way Jobs talked about and dealt with announcements. He really did innovate in that arena.

I think any momentum forward helps inspire others and breeds new and hopefully great products. For all the “Apple will steal this in...” comments. I’m sure Samsung has not been the only company kicking this kind of concept around in their labs. Apple has always been a company of taking something and making it work better. PARC had developed a mouse based computer, MP3 players existed before the iPod, pocketable computers existed before the iPhone, et al. IF Samsung gets a quality product out there and if a market develops around it...then Apple may, if it’s part of their own vision, produce such a product. But foldable, rolled up type displays is not a new concept...nor is Samsung the big inventor here. I watched a show YEARS ago with Japanese inventors showing off prototypes for all kinds of flexible displays, etc. one the guy rolled out like a piece of paper, used it, then rolled it back up and tossed in his pocket.
 
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I’m pretty sure that guy who introduced the flexible display tablaphone thingy at the end of that keynote was a vampire.

The kind who’s so creepy he gives other vampires the heebie-jeebies.
 
I think if this comes out and its under 8mm folded it will be huge. Its hard to tell with what they have around the phone to cover how thick it really is. I can see these as the next big thing in innovation if it can be thin enough. I dont see any problem with battery life as you can use two batteries per each side. When folded the screens turn off saving battery. They can end up make these over 8" if they could do a 5-5.5" screen size width wise.
Seems like Samsung is going to bring it in 2019. Innovation will lead to better products worth the $$$ not these mediocre upgrades since 2015.
 
Wow, that thing is thick.
Eh, it is a prototype in a housing designed to prevent visual reverse engineering and cloning. This was a technology preview, not a product announcement.

This has so much potential.
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Well, my comment still stands. It is thick.
Your comment is ignorant, but yeah, it stands as a reflection of your thought process.
 
It’s funny the impact Steve Jobs had on product presentation. I can still see everyone coming out and emulating the way Jobs talked about and dealt with announcements. He really did innovate in that arena.

I think any momentum forward helps inspire others and breeds new and hopefully great products. For all the “Apple will steal this in...” comments. I’m sure Samsung has not been the only company kicking this kind of concept around in their labs. Apple has always been a company of taking something and making it work better. PARC had developed a mouse based computer, MP3 players existed before the iPod, pocketable computers existed before the iPhone, et al. IF Samsung gets a quality product out there and if a market develops around it...then Apple may, if it’s part of their own vision, produce such a product. But foldable, rolled up type displays is not a new concept...nor is Samsung the big inventor here. I watched a show YEARS ago with Japanese inventors showing off prototypes for all kinds of flexible displays, etc. one the guy rolled out like a piece of paper, used it, then rolled it back up and tossed in his pocket.
I am 100% certain that Apple has DOZENS of foldable prototypes that have been in development for years, but their modus operandi is generally to not share anything until it’s totally ready for prime time. The only reason they aren’t announcing any such device now, or in the near future, is that it’s painfully obvious that the technology simply does not exist to make a compelling consumer device at this point in time.
 
This is something that we rarely get in tech - technology you can't quite believe is possible. I remember the same feeling when Apple introduced a touch screen you could do multitouch gestures on, and when Apple announced the ECG feature in the new Apple Watch.
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I am 100% certain that Apple has DOZENS of foldable prototypes that have been in development for years, but their modus operandi is generally to not share anything until it’s totally ready for prime time. The only reason they aren’t announcing any such device now, or in the near future, is that it’s painfully obvious that the technology simply does not exist to make a compelling consumer device at this point in time.

What is so interesting that what Apple offers today is often compared to what other companies are planning on releasing soon. I remember when Microsoft announced a very early preview of Windows 8, not shipping for at least 6 months, and claimed iPad had totally lost.
 
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I like the idea. Time will tell how this works out.

I'm a bit worried about the feel of the display though. Since it must be bendable, it might feel cheaper than glass.
But at least it is proteced when folded.
 
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