Weird Flex, But Okay - Samsung rolls out Infinity Flex Display, Native Google Support Annouced

[rcmaehl]

Source:

Engadget (Device Release)

VentureBeat (Native Support)

 

Summary:

Samsung has finally unveiled it's folding display. The display appears to need work, being noticeably dim. Additionally, Google has announced official support for folding devices which should help usability woes.

 

Media:

 

 

Quotes/Excerpts:

Quote

Samsung has unveiled a flexible display the company's 2018 developer conference in San Francisco.  Samsung wanted to take the opportunity to show off how UI and UX works on a flexible display. It uses panel bending technology, and the company had to invent a new protective layer with an advanced polymer that is both flexible and tough. The display is supposedly super thin, durable and flexible as well.  It looked to be pretty bulky. The display appeared quite dim as well, and the stage needed to be darkened in order to show it off. it looks like a regular smartphone, and the cover can be used to display information like the weather and time. It can then be unfolded to reveal a 7.3-inch display. Samsung has certainly led the way in flexible displays, and the last few iterations of its Galaxy and Note series' have had curved edge frames. A fully-folding display, however, would eradicate the need for larger phones and smaller tablets since it could be opened up to be a bigger size when required without filling your pocket.

Quote

At the Android Developer Summit this week, Google announced support for “foldables” — phones with screens that crease in half like a notebook. Google is “enhancing Android to take advantage of this new form factor” with as little work as necessary.  “[We’re] already working closely with Samsung on a new device they plan to launch early next year.” But the changes are less under-the-hood than over-the-top. To optimize an app for a foldable device, all that’s required is adding a new layout — Android treats bendable screens as single displays in software. “ This new form factor is therefore simply adding new use cases to this existing pattern.It’s an evolution from foldable devices of old like Kyocera’s Echo, Sony’s Tablet P, and NEC’s Medias, which had proprietary APIs and SDKs that required developers to custom-tailor apps on a per-device basis. And with any luck, it’ll kick off foldable device software development in earnest.” 

 

My Thoughts:

While the display definitely needs a TON of improvement at this state for brightness, I'm sure we'll have a very interesting device by the end of 2019, especially considering native Google support. Foldable devices are happening whether we thought they were a good idea or not. Get on the hype train and let's see where this takes us.

Edited November 9, 2018 by rcmaehl
Minor Edits Due to Reader Feedback

[Bananasplit_00]

i really want a 5.5" phone that you can unfold into a large tablet format for watching content. that and a headphone jack

[Djole123]

So it's kind of like Youm concept Samsung had shown a few years ago

 

Except Youm's phone display looks way better, the phone Samsung showed today has massive bezels.

 

There's still work to be done, but nonetheless, it's still an awesome technology.

[TVwazhere]

17 minutes ago, rcmaehl said:

Foldable devices are happening whether we thought they were a good idea or not. Get on the hype train and let's see where this takes us.

Yeah okay but are they gonna have headphone jacks tho?

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

 

[dizmo]

While I have no interest in the device now, and likely won't for a few years, I'm extremely happy they're pushing it forward.

In 5 years it might turn into something really useful.

I wonder if LG will beat them to the punch. They're rumored to also have a phone like that coming out. However, they always seem to struggle compared to Samsung, so even if it's released earlier I'm sure it'll be nowhere near as good.

[Commodus]

Folks expecting this to be the next big thing should probably temper their expectations.

 

The odds are that the first folding phone implementations will be... rough.  Yeah, your phone can become a tablet, but it will be thick, suck up battery and otherwise not work as well as you imagined in your mind's eye.  And that's assuming it doesn't just fall flat.

 

Think of it this way: remember how the first curved-screen Samsung phones, like the Galaxy Round and Galaxy Note Edge, were little more than gimmicks?  Remember how many years it took before Samsung found its groove, and even then how limited the utility really was?  Think about that before you cheer for this.

[Velcade]

1 hour ago, rcmaehl said:

If I didn't know any better I'd swear this picture was from 2006.

[BuckGup]

The problem is they don’t fold flat so they have a huge spine which makes the whole idea pointless. It also makes it fragile as sitting down on it folded will shear off the internals 

[Linus_torvalds]

3 minutes ago, Velcade said:

If I didn't know any better I'd swear this picture was from 2006.

That's just a case. That's not the phone!

[D13H4RD]

I still don't see why I would want this, I'm afraid 

[Paparachipupopep]

ZTE Axon M owner reporting in. I love my phone and am not going back to a single screen device. The Axon M definitely has its quirks and compromises, but now that you can find it in the $300 range, there's no other phone that I would consider. I find myself using the second screen for multitasking all the time, and battery life is still decent even when heavily using the second screen, as long as you're not expecting it to last all day. Having a web browser on one side while writing an Email or text is magnificent, your password manager on one side and an app on the other, copy/pasting...you'll discover so many things. Sure, you can do all this now on one screen phones, but I never found myself wanting to for lack of screen real estate. Not any more. The fingerprint reader on it is lightning fast for unlocking, it has a headphone jack and microSD slot, and it's a very clean installation of Android, without all the bloat that other vendors include. You can get used to a camera only being on one side of the device pretty quickly, and the quality of the camera is more than good enough for me - I was happy with my Galaxy S4's camera, for reference, though, my understanding is that if you're any sort of camera nerd the camera is terrible? For everyone else it's fine. I, for one, am very excited for foldable devices to continue to advance, because in my opinion, they're already "there" with the existence of the Axon M. Once the seam in the middle goes away due to flexible displays, then I'll probably consider stretching one app across the whole device more, right now I almost never do that on my Axon M unless I'm writing a long Email or reading a long article. The shape of the screen means if you use the whole device with videos the image actually doesn't get much bigger, and then you have gigantic black bars and the seam to deal with, so for now that's a no-go. 

[ARikozuM]

Samsung: Our next move?

Chairman: We can't top this, can we?

Samsung: Hold my beer!

 

[Noctus]

7 hours ago, Commodus said:

Folks expecting this to be the next big thing should probably temper their expectations.

 

The odds are that the first folding phone implementations will be... rough.  Yeah, your phone can become a tablet, but it will be thick, suck up battery and otherwise not work as well as you imagined in your mind's eye.  And that's assuming it doesn't just fall flat.

 

Think of it this way: remember how the first curved-screen Samsung phones, like the Galaxy Round and Galaxy Note Edge, were little more than gimmicks?  Remember how many years it took before Samsung found its groove, and even then how limited the utility really was?  Think about that before you cheer for this.

Note Edge was a fantastic phone !!

7 hours ago, BuckGup said:

The problem is they don’t fold flat so they have a huge spine which makes the whole idea pointless. It also makes it fragile as sitting down on it folded will shear off the internals 

Huh? Did you watch him open and close it? Seem's pretty flat to me.

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

i really want a 5.5" phone that you can unfold into a large tablet format for watching content. that and a headphone jack

Choose one of those and not the headphone jack

[suits]

This is actually really interesting and I'd definitely be down for giving it a try.

[RuffRuffmcgruff]

5 hours ago, VegetableStu said:

... I don't get the weird flex meme ,_,

gz on 4k, and I'm guessing cause it's a FLEXible screen maybeh?

[RuffRuffmcgruff]

17 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

but people's been using it on random comments unrelated to flexing ,_,

God damn millenials bro

[Doobeedoo]

First gen product. Still would like to see more and better reason to have something like it. 

[BuckGup]

9 hours ago, Noctus said:

 

Huh? Did you watch him open and close it? Seem's pretty flat to me.

It can't be because that would break the screen. There is always going to be a weird curved spine

[williamcll]

Well the chinese flex phone looks more refined.

[Brooksie359]

21 hours ago, rcmaehl said:

Source:

Engadget (Device Release)

VentureBeat (Native Support)

 

TL;DR:

Samsung has finally unveiled it's folding display.

 

Media:

 

 

Quotes/Excerpts:

 

My Thoughts:

While the display definitely needs a TON of improvement at this state for brightness, I'm sure we'll have a very interesting device by the end of 2019, especially considering native Google support. Foldable devices are happening whether we thought they were a good idea or not. Get on the hype train and let's see where this takes us.

I hope it doesn't have a notch. 

[Velcade]

4 hours ago, BuckGup said:

It can't be because that would break the screen. There is always going to be a weird curved spine

Unless it's an edge less display on the two sides that meet.

[Brooksie359]

21 hours ago, Djole123 said:

So it's kind of like Youm concept Samsung had shown a few years ago

 

Except Youm's phone display looks way better, the phone Samsung showed today has massive bezels.

 

There's still work to be done, but nonetheless, it's still an awesome technology.

I honestly don't get everyone's obsession with bezels. It's people like you who caused the monstrosity that is the notch. 

[BuckGup]

2 minutes ago, Velcade said:

Unless it's an edge less display on the two sides that meet.

But then it wouldn't be foldable lol. As we could make a phone with that tech using LCD, OLED, or anything. It's just a DS at that point