Samsung Shows Off Prototype Smartphone With Foldable Display

[Delgibbons]

Cars are not investments, Apple is.

The BMW is just for fun and I do floor it every day, so I do use it enough.

Check this out: Samsung was already beaten and does it really look like something you’d want to use? Honestly, I have an open mind here, but Samsung needs to do like WAY better than this. If it’s anything like this, total fail.

Yeah that foldable phone in the video looks f&£#%ng dreadful. Massive CREASE on the screen that comes away from the body.

I'd rather Samsung waited and got it right.

 

[Little Endian]

Pretty intriguing and way too cool. Foldable displays like what Samsung just showcased may seem like a game changer... but take a step back and really think about it. This tech will undoubtedly come with some caveats and compromises. Weight, thickness, battery life, and screen durability come to mind. Any moving part is prone to failure and I doubt this foldable polymer is as scratch reistant as the most recent incarnations of gorilla glass.

Also does this really serve a purpose? You can have a modern smart phone today that measures well under 8mm thin with a 5.5-6.5 inch screen. You can also get an iPad Pro that measures at just 5.9mm thin with a screen size as large as a whopping 12.9 inches.

With that said I don't know if folks would really put up with the compromise of having this who knows how thick device? Just how thick are we talking when folded? How heavy? and we unfold it to reveal a 7.3 inch display? 7.3 inches does give more real estate than a 6.5 inch display but heck it is still smaller than an iPad mini.

I would rather deal with two separate devices well tailored for their respective purposes. For a smartphone I want svelte and thin for the purpose of ultimate mobility. For a tablet I want a portable yet immersive experience that can serve the purpose of a laptop but with greater mobility, having 9.7 inch plus screen size is imperative for that experience.

I will be truly impressed with this foldable technology when someone can build a device that is as small and thin as an iPhone 5 yet can unfold into a tablet with a 10 inch plus screen size. Till then it seems like the purpose of foladable displays will be for the awesomeness factor rather than practical or beneficial purposes.

 

[kingax1]

Wow, that thing is thick.

Its not the final product, its a early prototype or hidden in some case as to not reveal its final design.

 

[Marshall73]

watch the video. 40% reduction in screen technology.
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Yea I really dont get the hatred for innovation. Some could call me an apple fanboy ive always liked their stuff ive had each iPhone back to the 3g. White plastic MacBook, two MacBook Pros, two appletv's, 3 different apple watches, 3 different iPads and still I like to see new technology no matter who it is.
Seems like people are ok with small updates since 2015 and new technology they think is pointless and dumb. Without other companies innovating apple wont be pushed to release anything besides small updates year after year. I think its good for all to want new technology no matter who is releasing it because it will push the market to new things.
I never understood the super fanboy apple people that cant be open minded to new tech...

Still needs to contain the radius of the bend. Even if it’s 0.1 mm thick the radius will be at least 8-10mm.

 

[dilbert99]

I’m an Apple fan because they do things right

Thats a good reason for being an Apple fan, wouldn't expect anything less

I was more commenting on your assumption that apple fans like stuff when Apple does it just because Apple does it. Where Apple tends to do things late but better than others, and I think that’s what fans like. Do it right the first time.

I never said that. You must have me confused with someone else.

Soldering RAM annoyed me. Ports not so much. Because I see the long term goal.

Personally I find that strange. I live in the here and now and want a device to support my current workflow, not some idealic world that might happen in 3 years time by which time I have gotten rid of that device for a new one.

Apple will take longer than anyone else and MR members will complain. Then it will come out and MR members will complain.

As I said before Apple make great devices, doesn't mean they don't make mistakes. Why do you think Apple are so polarizing?

 

[Taipan]

Lol, wake me up when Apple has adopted AMOLED on all iPhone and iPad models. Even better microLED.

Comments starting with „Lol“ are always safe to ignore.

 

[dilbert99]

Why would people want this? What a joke. Stick with TV's Samsung.

You have never seen a desirable flip phone before? (Not saying this one in its current form is desirable)

If someone gets the foldable phone right, I predict everyone will have one.

 

[I7guy]

..,.As I said before Apple make great devices, doesn't mean they don't make mistakes. Why do you think Apple are so polarizing?

With 200 million customers and 1 billion devices there is room for many opinions. That’s not polarizing it’s the very essence of diversity. But if that is what you call polarizing because 200 million people won’t agree, then ok.

 

[dilbert99]

It’s a nice concept but what does it actually solve.

If someone can pull of a foldable phone, everyone will have one. Everyone desires the smallest phone possible with the largest screen possible. A foldable screen solves this conundrum.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I wouldn’t buy this particular device for 3 main reasons:
1. Way too thick as a phone
2. Screen will be way too flimsy with the ultra thin glass/plastic
3. Odd aspect ratio on the tablet so content consumption will be horrible and no better than in a phablet

That’s not what it looks like. It was disguised inside a case.

 

[dilbert99]

With 200 million customers and 1 billion devices there is room for many opinions. That’s not polarizing it’s the very essence of diversity. But if that is what you call polarizing because 200 million people won’t agree, then ok.

Size of customer base is not what I am getting at. If you look at something like Ferarri (or insert brand here) then even those who are not customers would desire the object, be a fan and doesn't have lots of people bagging them online.
But if you look at companies like Google, Tesla, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, UBER,... there is a love hate relationship.
That does not mean that those companies are not some of the largest on the planet. That is what I mean by polarizing.

 

[elvisimprsntr]

Better design than previous dual screen foldable phones with a seam in the middle, but it will likely be a niche product since most will not be able to afford it.

On the other hand, foldable/rollable large displays might have wider use cases. Likely more advertising displays on curved surfaces. Just the future I was looking forward to. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy

 

[inigou]

Samsung S brick? I like the concept but needs years of development yet to make it thinner.

 

[gnipgnop]

Once again, the only thing Samsung can come up with to differentiate their product is related to screen technology. That's just not enough to compete effectively these days.

There's also an obvious flaw in the design shown: the screen size of the "phone" configuration is too small, and the screen size of the "tablet" configuration probably isn't that much bigger than the largest phone models available.

 

[dilbert99]

Bingo. Nice tech demo but foldable displays have existed for ages. Putting together a tech demo of one is not 'delivering' anything.

There is a difference between prototype and delivering. It still remains to be seen if Samsung can deliver on this.
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AirPower was shown in full, not teased in some partial reveal. They just haven’t yet been able to make it work.

Airpower couldn't have been shown in full because Apple have not yet got it to work, in other words just vapourware.

 

[diddl14]

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?

Just look back at all code-m postings: fake account just doing apple bashing and Samsung marketing. Should be banned by MR if they take their forum rules seriously:

1. Shilling. If you pretend to be a consumer who recommends your own product(s) or favors your own product(s) over others, without admitting your affiliation, you will be banned. Vendors who post in threads only to criticize a competitor's product while promoting their own will also be banned.

 

[Little Endian]

Once again, the only thing Samsung can come up with to differentiate their product is related to screen technology. That's just not enough to compete effectively these days.

There's also an obvious flaw in the design shown: the screen size of the "phone" configuration is too small, and the screen size of the "tablet" configuration probably isn't that much bigger than the largest phone models available.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Gilligan's last elephant]

AirPower was shown in full, not teased in some partial reveal. They just haven’t yet been able to make it work.
.

Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds

 

[jpeagle]

Even with a flat edge infinity display, there will be a seam (that is physics with separate displays).

yeah, it is true. it may not fit for drawing, or heavy gaming, but I feel it is good enough to use it in common scenarios, like surfing, video, simple gaming, typing and etc.
this solution is simpler, more durable and cheaper.

 

[ROGmaster]

Apple doesn’t do that. They do put out teaser print ads and promos, like every other company. But when they take the stage to show a new product, they, y’know, show it.

The point is apple has shown products that took quite a bit of time to launch or haven't been launched at all(like the Airpower)
And we are talking about trivial stuff like wireless chargers or home speakers. Apple hasn't shown in the past years anything close to the caliber of Samsung's foldable phone which will create an entire new category of products.

Also Samsung hid the design of their foldable phone because of their Chinese competitors. I also consider that they are the reason Samsung showed it now. Chinese OEMs have become a formidable force in the smartphone market and they seem to be on full throttle mode improving at a very fast pace which puts a lot of pressure on Samsung. But ultimately this is a great thing for us consumers.

 

[PG(Austin)]

This takes "bend gate" to the next level.

It will reverse this time and be called "gate hinge" since that's what it look like.

 

[x-evil-x]

Still needs to contain the radius of the bend. Even if it’s 0.1 mm thick the radius will be at least 8-10mm.

we'll see what they come up with. I dont think they will release anything too too thick. I mean phones back in 2008 where plenty thick. I doubt this will be much thicker then 10mm

 

[Gilligan's last elephant]

These presentations get worse and worse, 1 hour 40 minutes of cringe.

As opposed to presentations where people cheer at price increases?

 

[1050792]

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.

Refine is the fancy word for copy.
I don’t know about you but a fridge is way more important to me than an iPad with cursor support

 

[dilbert99]

Still needs to contain the radius of the bend. Even if it’s 0.1 mm thick the radius will be at least 8-10mm.

From what I have read, 5mm is the bend radius that can be achieved in phase 1 devices and can be decreased over time, to at least 1mm.
This is something that I did not think was possible, but willing to accept it.