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Motorola's rumored Edge+ flagship phone shown off in more leaked images
We first heard rumblings of Motorola's newest flagship phone, the Motorola Edge+, earlier this month. Leaked renders showed a 6.7-inch phone with a bezel-free, curved-edge design and tiny hole-punch camera. Without Motorola's say so there's no way to tell if these specs are legit or not, but newly leaked images, courtesy of renowned phone leaker Evan Blass, do suggest this is what Motorola is working on.
Samsung imagines full-screen phone with a camera hidden under the display
Samsung is working on a "perfect full-screen" phone that will be 100 percent display, with no notches, bezels or cut-outs. According to Yang Byung-duk, the company's display R&D vice president, "Technology can move to the point where the camera hole will be invisible, while not affecting the camera's function in any way."
iOS 12 developer beta points to bezel-less iPad with Face ID
Last year, early iOS leaks gave us a preview of the eventual iPhone X and some details on Apple's HomePod speaker. Now, 9to5Mac points out an icon in the iOS 12 developer beta that seems to show an iPad design with tiny bezels all around and missing the home button. Separately, code for accessibility features shows evidence of Face ID support in an upcoming iPad Pro likely scheduled for release this fall. The image doesn't show an iPhone X-like notch, so presumably new iPads would manage to squeeze a TrueDepth camera into the remaining bezel. With iPad sales remaining flat compared to last year, it seems likely that we'll see new devices soon, and now we have some idea at least of what they'll look like.
Lenovo's 'all-screen' smartphone is a lie
After ramping up the hype for the Z5, Lenovo revealed the goods, and they weren't as advertised. Its new phone, teased since May, landed with a bit of a chin at the base -- and a notch at the top. So, that's the worst of both worlds? Now, we'd make less of a fuss if the company hadn't already coaxed out teaser images of a phone with a screen that appeared to truly stretch to the edges. It turns out that the render was just that: A render and nothing else.
Lenovo teases a true all-screen phone
Apple said its iPhone X is "entirely screen," but that's only if you ignore the omnipresent notch. Teasing a sketch and part of a render, Lenovo Vice President Chang Cheng showed off a smartphone that's nearly all screen. The Lenovo Z5, he said, would have a screen ratio of 95 percent and packs "18 patented technologies." He didn't say, however, exactly if or how Lenovo would integrate a front-facing selfie camera on the device.
LG's G6 invite drops more hints about the 'Big Screen' phone
As usual, LG is continuing to slowly drop hints about its big product unveiling ahead of Mobile World Congress 2017 next month. Our official invite to the launch event for its next flagship mobile phone has arrived and positions the G6 as having a "Big Screen...That Fits." The words and diagram continue to hint at a device with minimal bezel, which backs up images previously leaked. LG itself already revealed the device's unique 18:9 ratio display -- branded "Full Vision" -- and promises it won't explode. Since Samsung's Galaxy S8 debut will be delayed, something has to grab the spotlight in Barcelona and maybe the G6 is that phone. We'll find out on February 26th.
Nubia's bezel-free Z9 smartphone is coming to the US
If I had a nickel for every "ugh, too much bezel!" comment, I'd have... well, a few bucks anyway. That's why it's good news that Nubia's borderless 5.2-inch Z9 smartphone is coming to the US next quarter at a rather tempting price. We already previewed the Z9 when it came to China last month, so here are the Cliff notes. First off, it's a bezel-hater's dream, at least on the sides -- there's nothing there but a slim metal frame, which also doubles as a touch surface. By gripping it in various ways, you can unlock the home screen, adjust the brightness and even flip it to single-hand mode, among other tasks.
Oppo's next phone has a crazy slim screen bezel
The folks over at Oppo sure know how to tease. Well, that's my guess, anyway, based on the fact that several Chinese tech writers received the above photos from "anonymous" sources yesterday. This mysterious smartphone -- running on Oppo's ColorOS Android ROM -- features an almost edge-to-edge screen that's similar to what we've seen on the Sharp AQUOS Crystal series, except for the earpiece that Oppo decided to keep. This is backed up by an Oppo patent (dug up by GSM Arena) which shows the use of light refraction to give the illusion of a bezel-free screen. Yes, it's very much the same method as Sharp's. For those who are still skeptical, there's now a short video showing the same device in action, and you can check it out after the break. As for the price and availability, we're just as eager as you are to find out.
LG slims smartphone bezels to a virtually non-existent 0.7mm
You might talk about how much you hate large bezels, but LG is actually doing something about it. It just unveiled a 5.3-inch, 1080p LCD display with 0.7mm bezels, less than the width of a credit card. The Korean company said they're the world's narrowest, thanks to "Neo Edge" module processing and "advanced in-cell touch" tech. That's a fancy way of saying that the panel's circuit board and backlight are glued together instead of taped, and that the touch panel is embedded into the LCD module. LG added that the dust- and waterproof display is substantially more durable too -- though we can't help but wonder if replacement parts will be pricier. If that Sharp Aquos Crystal X bezel now seems downright bulky, too bad -- LG's new screen will initially be built for Chinese smartphones only.
Pantech Vega Iron brings a 5-inch 'zero bezel' display, where zero equals 2.4mm (update)
We've got to admit that we saw some rumors about a "zero bezel" Pantech a few days ago, but ignored them because we had no idea what that meant. Now we do, however, as Pantech has made the 5-inch 1080p 720p phone official, under the solid-sounding name of the Vega Iron. The bezels aren't quite zero, but they are small: just 2.4mm across on each side, which -- for reference -- is roughly half the width on an iPhone 5. This results in a viewable-to-total area ratio of 75.5 percent, which Pantech claims is a world beater. Other specs include a quad-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 processor, in-cell LCD display and Gigabit WiFi. We have no idea if Pantech has penciled the United States into the Vega Iron's release schedule, but the company is certainly trying to make an impression in this hemisphere and a phone like this couldn't hurt. Update: The rumors were right about everything except the resolution, which now looks to be 720p rather than the big ten-eighty. Thanks to commenters who spotted the error.
AUO builds cellphone display with 'world's thinnest border'
Is that 3mm bezel getting you down? AUO says it has created the "world's narrowest" smartphone border on a new 4.46-inch 720P touch display -- just a single millimeter in width. That would put it in the same league as LG's Cinema Screen TVs, but in a smaller form factor, allowing manufacturers to reduce handset sizes without losing screen area. In related news, AUO also says it's developing Advanced Hyper-Viewing Angle (AHVA) tech, along with small form-factor IGZO displays, and that it's started shipping 4.97-inch 1920 x 1080, 443ppi screens. If all that means we have to squint less at our display, let the pixel density wars rage on.
Sharp shows off IGZO LCD and OLEDs including a 13.5-inch QFHD screen
Sharp announced earlier this year that it was starting to crank out LCD panels based on new indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) technology and now it's ready to show some off at the Society for Information Display show in Boston. Currently sized for phones and tablets, the first prototypes include a pair of LCDs, one a 4.9-inch 720x1280 display, and the other coming at 6.1-inches with a resolution of 2560x1600. As an example of what will be possible further down the line, it also has a pair of OLED panels, one 13.5-inch 3840x2160 QFHD panel based on White OLEDs with RGB color filters (similar to the LG HDTV recently introduced), and a flexible 3.4-inch 540x960 screen (shown above). According to Sharp the new tech means screens with higher resolutions, lower power consumption, narrower bezels and higher performance touch screens because it enables even smaller thin-film transistors than the ones currently in use. The Associated Press reports it expects to apply the upgrade to production lines in this fiscal year, for now you can hit the source link for a few diagrams and examples of crystalline structures or check the gallery for pics of the other displays. %Gallery-156633%
Atmel's XSense promises curvy touchscreens that'll ruin your shirt line (video)
Touchscreen gurus Atmel may not be the most famous name around, but you'll find its gear inside devices like the Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Tab. Now it has pulled the dust-sheets from the latest innovation to emerge from its Californian headquarters: XSense. It's a flexible, super-thin, film-based touch sensor that can be curved and contorted any which way you choose while retaining accuracy. It'll also enable smartphone makers to create "edgeless" touchscreens without bezels, or have them cascade around the sides of the device. Now all we have to do is wonder if we really want a notably concave phone jabbing into our thighs, which you can ponder while you watch the concept video we've got for you after the break.
LG Cinema Screen LCD HDTVs slice bezel to 1mm, let two players share one TV
LG has been pushing its flavor of 3DTV as Cinema 3D, and now it has slipped the theater related nomenclature onto another feature, the 1mm thin LCD bezels it has dubbed "Cinema Screen". It claims this move brings the experience closer to the theater, but that's not the only new feature for 2012. LG announced it will offer Dual Play, where it uses polarized glasses to let two different players see only their perspective on the full screen at once in games that support it. Vizio demonstrated the feature last year as Versus and Sony brought it to market in the PlayStation 3D display. We'll likely get more time with those razor thin bezels once CES is truly underway, for now check after the break for the press release.
ASUS' U46SV-DH51 goes up for pre-order, ships to bezel haters on October 1st (video)
Do you despise thick bezels, yet harbor an unnatural aversion to portables from LG and Samsung? We're not here to psychoanalyze, but ASUS' U46SV-DH51 might be more to your liking. The "Brushed Champagne" notebook is notable for its diminutive bezel, which, like Sammy's smaller Series 7, allows for a 14-inch display to exist in a 13-inch chassis. It's got some punch too, packing a Core i5-2410M, 4GB of RAM, NVIDIA's GeForce GT 540M and a DVD burner (remember those?). Not bad for a 4.85-pound laptop that'll supposedly go 10 hours between charges and set you back $879. You'll find a pre-order page at the source below, but before you go, why not hop past the break and indulge in a video? [Thanks, Danijel]
Acer unveils TravelMate 8481T laptop for the all-business crowd
Globetrotting financiers have a new companion to slot into their briefcases, now that Acer has taken the wraps off its TravelMate Timeline 8481T notebook. Powered by an Intel Core i5 processor and weighing in at 3.7 pounds, this little guy boasts a 14-inch, 1366 x 768 LCD that's been engineered to fit within a 13-inch footprint, thanks to a frameless, bezel-trimming design. The latest addition to the TravelMate 8481 family also boasts 4GB of DDR3 memory (or 8GB, if you upgrade) and a 320GB SATA hard drive, along with the usual collection of WiFi, Bluetooth and USB 3.0 capabilities -- all packed within a slim, 0.87-inch thick frame. The laptop is expected to start shipping in "early September" for $1,000, but you can find more details in the full PR that's sitting after the break.
Switched On: The bedeviled bezel
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. One of the few homages that the Palm Pre paid to the Palm Pilot was the gesture area, a separate part of the display face below the screen used for swipes just as the Pilot had a separate area devoted to entering Graffiti strokes. Unfortunately (like Graffiti before it), the gesture area was one of the least intuitive aspects of the Pre's operation, and HP has been moving away from it as a required navigation element. On the TouchPad, the gesture area has been scrapped in favor of an iPad-like bottom button. But HP hasn't outright ignored the bezel on the TouchPad. Users can still swipe inbound from the bezel as an alternative way of bringing up its card view. Indeed, in 2011, it seems like nearly everyone has been taking a swipe at the bezel around touchscreen displays. First, RIM introduced inbound bezel swipes as a key navigation element on the PlayBook for activating menus, bringing up applications to launch, and its own webOS-like app switching interface. Microsoft showed how inbound bezel swipes will be part of the navigation for touchscreen devices in Windows 8. And MeeGo also uses the inbound bezel swipe as its keystone user interface element on smartphones...
Poll: Are you shopping for a skinny bezel?
One of the notable innovations in this year's lineup of HDTVs are the extremely slim bezel flat panels available from Samsung like the D7000 model pictured above. Now that this and many of the other 2011 HDTVs are on sale, we're wondering whether that's actually a strong selling point for you, or if you like big bezels any you cannot lie. Select a poll choice and let us know why an extra half-inch or so of material around the picture is really that distracting. %Poll-64884%
Acer said to be using LG Shuriken display in upcoming laptop -- less bezel, less thickness, more awesome
The zany guys and gals at DigiTimes have a saucy new rumor to start our week off with a bang. A newfangled LG display, dubbed Shuriken, is apparently being recruited in Acer's fight against irrelevance. The Taiwanese company will reputedly use it in an upcoming 14.1-inch laptop, but here's the kicker: the physical size of the laptop will be no bigger than that of a 13.3-inch model. That's because the Shuriken's panel will require less bezel (8mm instead of 12mm) and less thickness, slimming itself down to just 4mm. LG already has the 12.5-inch Xnote P210, which would seem to be employing similar technology, so it's not a stretch to believe the company's war on bezels has stepped up to the 14-inch size class. Acer is expected to launch this new laptop as early as next month, though the cost of the Shuriken displays is cited as the reason they haven't been taken up more widely yet, meaning the price of the eventual product will be almost as intriguing as its looks.
Apple patent shows new "smart bezel" for tablets
An Apple patent was published this week that details a touch sensitive, smart bezel for its tablet devices. The bezel would include touch sensors, pressure sensors, light emitters, haptic actuators and accelerometers. With this array of embedded sensors, a user could touch the bezel and control volume, adjust brightness and more. This patent also describes the use of the bezel to wake up a device, unlock a device and toggle a device on and off. Such a design could allow for the development of a home button-less iPad, a device that was rumored earlier this year by BGR. The smart bezel is similar to, but more advanced than the touch-sensitive gesture area of the Palm Pre Plus and the Pre 2. This type of smart housing may also make its way into Apple's notebook line where embedded sensors would be used to detect I/O activity. This is not the first patent to introduce the use of an intelligent bezel in a tablet device. Earlier this month, Apple was awarded a patent for a bezel that controls volume, adjusts brightness, lets a user zoom, and even functions as a game controller. An earlier patent describes touch-sensitive areas that could replace buttons on a device such as the iPad. Together these patents suggest Apple is looking at alternative input mechanisms that could drive the next wave of innovation in the tablet market. [Via Cnet]
