Foldable screens are the sort of future tech we’d been promised by films set in the near and not-so-near future. Some companies have even shown that it’s possible, if not really commercially viable.
A new report by Bloomberg suggests that we could see the commercial release of foldable phones by Samsung next year. According to Bloomberg, secret ninja sources familiar with the inner workings at Samsung say that two devices could be coming from the Korean manufacturer next year that feature pliable OLED-based screens.
The first would fold in half like a make-up compact, while the other sounds a little more interesting – to me at least. It could be a 5 inch phone that could fold out to become an 8 inch tablet. I don’t know how Samsung would be able to do that without there being tell-tale fold-lines in the screens which would annoy many (like me!).
According to Bloomberg’s source, the foldable devices are codenamed “Project Valley,” and could be unveiled at next year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. If this is true, it could give Samsung a leg up on whatever new devices Apple shares and recapture some if the mindshare they’ve lost as sales have slumped in the last two years.
“This product could be a game-changer if Samsung successfully comes up with a user interface suitable for bendable screens,” said Lee Seung Woo, an analyst at IBK Securities Co. in Seoul. “Next year is a probable scenario. Their biggest obstacle was related to making transparent plastics and making them durable, which seems resolved by now.”
It’s not the first time Samsung has been linked with folding displays. In 2013 at CES, Samsung unveiled Youm, its brand name for prototype flexible OLED displays. That technology may have come to fruition.
Last Updated: June 8, 2016
HairyEwok
June 8, 2016 at 12:04
A phone in the form of a tiny notebook….. Little Black Book movie popped into mind.
Spathi
June 8, 2016 at 12:06
SAMSUCK is copying Apple again! ROFLOL!!1!!37!!!
Ottokie
June 8, 2016 at 12:07
^THIS
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
June 8, 2016 at 12:07
http://new4.fjcdn.com/pictures/Secret+feature+bend+so+like+4chan+is+at+it+again_1a887a_5305277.jpg
Jac7
June 8, 2016 at 12:08
Bend until you hear cracking sound. Replace phone.
Ottokie
June 8, 2016 at 12:08
*hands Spathi a helmet
We in for a S*itstorm right now
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
June 8, 2016 at 12:09
With Samsung the Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree
Spathi
June 8, 2016 at 12:09
*Throws more fuel on the fire*
I’m not afraid of latte drinking hipsters!!
Ottokie
June 8, 2016 at 12:10
iPhone is Quality for PRICE!
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
June 8, 2016 at 12:13
Careful, they’ve got scarves
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 8, 2016 at 12:14
Oh look at Mr We’re-so-fancy-because-we-invented-rounded-corners!
HairyEwok
June 8, 2016 at 12:16
OOHHHHHH
https://31.media.tumblr.com/8cff0a6dccb6bd5527940b4298c38ac8/tumblr_inline_neqh5zdaEn1skc90r.gif
Ottokie
June 8, 2016 at 12:17
You know it!
konfab
June 8, 2016 at 12:10
I don’t want a tablet that can fold into a phone.
I want a phone that can fold into a smaller phone. So basically fold my 5 inch phone into a 2.5 inch square.
Put a small e-ink display on the other side and you would have the perfect device IMO
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 8, 2016 at 12:12
Finally, I’ve always wanted a phone that could double as the back cover of a MAD magazine.
Greylingad[He Charges!]
June 8, 2016 at 12:15
One day, in the near future, someone with great abilities in the art of engineering, will come up with a solution to build a phone that allows one to speak into it and allow the other party to hear you…
HairyEwok
June 8, 2016 at 12:18
That is at least 200 years out.
Greylingad[He Charges!]
June 8, 2016 at 12:20
Dammit!!
(I say as I’m typing this on my phone)
HairyEwok
June 8, 2016 at 12:21
Maybe one day they’ll look at a walky talky and say hey, why not make this thing so it doesn’t have a range limit.
Greylingad[He Charges!]
June 8, 2016 at 12:28
That is impossible, because we all know what happens to wave propagation into the ionosphere…
HairyEwok
June 8, 2016 at 12:35
It’ll end up the biggest group call ever.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
June 8, 2016 at 12:21
Speak in the other end ?
Greylingad[He Charges!]
June 8, 2016 at 12:27
Why would you want that!? Ohhh….
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
June 8, 2016 at 12:16
Meanwhile Apple is working on the Iphone 7
http://i.imgur.com/pIvKZxD.gif
Greylingad[He Charges!]
June 8, 2016 at 12:17
HAHAHAHAHA!!!! You mean the iPhone 1 revision 7?
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
June 8, 2016 at 12:17
They should do a reboot
Ottokie
June 8, 2016 at 12:18
The only thing you “reboot” is an android xD
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
June 8, 2016 at 12:20
At least I wont drive through an orphanage looking for a street address
Ottokie
June 8, 2016 at 12:21
Yea well!
dammit…
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
June 8, 2016 at 12:22
XD
Greylingad[He Charges!]
June 8, 2016 at 12:18
HAHAHAHA!! Oh man, simply because we know how well reboots do…
Ottokie
June 8, 2016 at 12:20
http://forgifs.com/gallery/d/233479-2/Folding-laptop.gif
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
June 8, 2016 at 12:21
Fixed
chimera_85
June 10, 2016 at 08:36
As much as I dislike samsung they are leading with innovation