Samsung Working On Creating Foldable Devices

Investing billions into the production of foldable display screens, Samsung seems to be inching ahead of LG.

As per a patent published by the USPTO on November 26th, Samsung is reportedly working on the next big thing — smartphones with foldable screens called the YOUM screens.

For your perspective, a foldable screen is a screen that can be bent in any direction by the user.

The exciting part is that unlike other patents that are at a conceptual stage, it’s not just the idea that Samsung’s got patented — it even had the technology itself patented. So that means the discovery of the ‘how’ is finished, perhaps prototyping too! So they’re close to commercialisation!

After having achieved success in creating and delivering curved devices, Samsung is on it’s journey of creating scrollable, foldable, super-cool devices for the next gen of screens and (hence) devices.

Samsung has been working on for the past nine years — and this all-’new’ development of flexible displays is actually the fruit of constant R&D, innovation and lots of failed attempts.

But this innovation will open the Tech world to a whole new range of products and that has been something that a lot of us have been waiting for!

As speculated by tech blog SamMobile, Samsung is currently working on a phone that would include a foldable dual screen display. The effort is internally called “Project Valley” or “Project V” and the mobile phone is said to already be in the testing phase.

The name Project V, I’m guessing is because this is the shape the phone would make when it bends!

In fact the Koreans are speculated to be testing two foldable devices with different processors –Snapdragon 620 and the more powerful Snapdragon 820 with 3 GB RAM; obviously driving two high-definition screens will take quite a lot of juice — so we’re guessing that Samsung is trying to establish the performance vs. battery dynamic, so that they’re not ridiculed later for a device that just doesn’t last long enough on a single charge.

Samsung’s Galaxy Round (2013) with the curved-display was their first step in their evolution toward foldable phones. Samsung had then unveiled two working models of smart devices with bendable screens — one resembled a lady’s compact, which snapped shut vertically, while the second device when opened up twice, transformed into a tablet.

The fascination for curved screen is not new, LG had also unveiled their progress on using bendable screens in the Society for Information Display (SID) conference in San Jose earlier this year, where they rolled up an 18 inch screen into a 6 mm diameter without affecting the functionality of the screen.

Samsung is also believed to be working on a flip phone with a bendable screen, where the screen can be bent in either direction. The phone will resemble the erstwhile clamshell Motorola Razor; however will have a bendable fluid screen instead of a disjoint screen and keypad.

The Korean company is planning to have invested close to 6 trillion Won for the production of foldable, bendable, roll-able, scrollable OLED display screens by using graphene and plastic, which will enable them to make perfect high resolution, unbreakable, bendable/foldable screens.

While some people will believe that Samsung’s intent behind this whole new discovery would be to increase it’s market share by introducing expensive and niche smartphones so as to regain the smartphone market lost to it’s arch rival, Apple, I disagree.

Samsung and LG both realise that the applications and uses of bendable/foldable screens are many, and the winner will take all — not just smartphones and tablets, but every other gadget category too. So rivalry seems a petty cause, in this landmark windfall.

Curved and/or foldable screens, apart from adding to the aesthetic appeal of to phones would also add significantly the device’s functionality and any brand would be able to convince audiences to buy this phone based purely on functionalities and new capabilities.

So far only prototypes of the bendable screen have been seen, but rumour has it is that Samsung is planning to launch it’s first product with a bendable screen in 2016.

They haven’y made any public statements about this product or it’s availability, so far.

Nonetheless, I for one, am eagerly waiting to see what Samsung is going to surprise us with next and how this discovery might just change the way I use my smartphones (and of course every other device so impacted)!

Originally published at Chip-Monks.