Samsung Patent Shows Future Foldable Smartphone

[dgstorm]

If this latest Samsung patent comes to fruition anytime soon, then the South Korean company could end up disrupting the smartphone industry in a big way. This new Samsung patent details a smartphone with a single large display that can be folded in half.

We have known for some time that Samsung was working toward this type of device with their flexible YOUM AMOLED displays, but this patent actually puts that technology into a workable form. What's particularly intriguing about this patent is that it was filed just on March 11th and published less than two weeks later. Industry insiders point to this as a sign that it is already in advanced stages of development. If and when this phone comes to retail, it will easily be the most innovative device we have seen since the original iPhone supplanted the likes of Nokia and Blackberry.

Could we see a bill-fold style touchscreen smartphone within the next two years? It seems very possible now. You can see more images of the patent in the thread below.

Source: GalaxyClub

 

[dgstorm]

Here are the rest of those Samsung patent images:

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I'm definitely intrigued in the possibilities of something like this, though I doubt that I'll be the first in line to try it. I'll need to see some long-term usage tests to see how that screen holds up to constant bending over time.

Could be nice though to have a smaller footprint of a device for quick things and a larger device for more intensive things and/or media consumption all in the same device.

The trick with something like this will be to make it thin enough when folded and still have good battery life and other specs. I'm not saying it should be as skinny as some of the thinnest phones on the market right now by any means, but there's a fine line between acceptable bulk for the versatility of it and just being too much to want to carry around all day every day, while still performing on-par with what we're used to.

 

[wardo]

Sic!

 

[DjNico]

Reminds me of the phone from the movie "Her"

 

[wicked]

How long do you think until they come out with something like this?

2 years? 5 years? longer?

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I'd say within 2 for the first effort, unless they decide to play it more cautious. More chance for something to go wrong with something like this than curving the edge of the screen, IMO.

 

[Jeffrey]

How long do you think until they come out with something like this?

2 years? 5 years? longer?

Sammy has been working on this for years.. A year or less to market is my guess..

 

[luddite]

I'm seriously underwhelmed, I predict that this idea, which has already been tried by Sony, will be a dead end.