Connect with us

Galaxy Note 3

Samsung Confirms Curved Phone for October Launch

Published

on

Following speculations that a new, limited edition and premium unannounced Galaxy Note 3 model with a flexible display will be coming to the market soon, one Samsung executive has already let the cat out of the bag and confirmed that the South Korean king of Android will be releasing a curved phone. That model is due as early as October in Samsung’s home country and could make it to other markets by early next year according to Samsung strategy marketing head D.J. Lee.

Earlier in the month, Samsung had announced two variants of the Galaxy Note 3, neither of which comes with a flexible display. The differences between the variants boil down to the use of processor, and HSPA+ or LTE for mobile broadband connectivity with the U.S. market getting the version with a Snapdragon 800 processor and 4G LTE support.

Is Samsung ready to commercialize its flexible display phone concept? Image via The Verge.

Is Samsung ready to commercialize its flexible display phone concept? Image via The Verge.

Lee, speaking to Reuters in an interview, did not give any other indications about the flexible screen. The vague reference to “curved display” may not necessarily mean that Samsung’s “next big thing” will bear a flexible display however as the company had experimented with phones with a slightly curved glass screen in the form of the Nexus S and the Galaxy Nexus in the past. Those models didn’t have a flexible display panel underneath though the screen had a slight curvature.

Still, a flexible display may in fact be coming. For several consecutive years, Samsung had been showing off working prototypes of such a concept at the Consumer Electronics Show and the market may finally be ready. Even if the phone itself doesn’t bend, roll, fold, or get reshaped to your favorite origami technique, the device promises better resilience to damage. Curved displays, made with graphene, may be able to sustain drops and dings better. The result? Broken glass screens may be a thing of the past, even if you’re still stuck with the same form factor.

Though tech watchers have been excited about the possibilities, Samsung still needs to commercialize the technology and ensure that it would withstand normal wear and tear when used daily by customers. It needs to ensure a high enough yield of the necessary components to place the device in a flagship product, like its Galaxy S series smartphones or Galaxy Note phablets and tablets.

At its best, curved displays can reinvigorate the premium smartphone market with new form factors. If the Galaxy Note phablet in its current design is still too big for your hands, imagine a phone that you can fold out like a napkin, or a tablet that you can roll up to save space as you take it with you to your next meeting. These are just some of the form factors that could be enabled with this technology when coupled with flexible batteries and circuitry made from the thin, but resilient graphene material. Beyond phones, flexible displays could open the doors to wearable computing devices as well, including the emerging smartwatch market.

Rival LG is also rumored to be experimenting with a phone with a flexible display as well.

5 Comments

5 Comments

  1. phtab

    09/25/2013 at 9:11 am

    Samsung and LG – 2 South Korean Company is trying to introduce new user experience for smartphone customers. both companies already introduced curved OLED TV sets this year.

    • crwolv from xda

      09/25/2013 at 11:30 pm

      in my opinion not only is oled better( black pixel is exact as it is off and that saves power especially with inverted apk,s) but LCD will fade away because it requires backlighting and cand bend at all. OLED..OLED ..OLED

  2. reedie

    09/27/2013 at 12:12 pm

    god dam i might have to get this phone instead of the note 3 now shit shit hate waiting

  3. hminney

    10/21/2013 at 2:29 pm

    curved phone would allow an edge to edge display – even a slight curve (see picture at the start of the article) could give an impression of something totally different in smartphone concept, no bezel.
    This would get part way. What about – a 4.5″ phone, that you could place a second display right next to and get a 7″ tablet. Place two more and you have a 10″ tablet. The extra displays could be lower cost add-ons, and would be lighter as they only need to have display technology and own battery, so you’d leave them in your bag until you need them.

  4. Andy

    11/19/2013 at 2:09 am

    I just hope they go with a few improvements, like:
    Aluminium styling featuring a removable battery would be a nice kick in HTC’s face (not to mention Apple).
    Make it look like a new phone. Enough of the “slight change compared to old” styling
    Curved screen would rock.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.