foldable display
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The next iPhone might have an in-screen fingerprint scanner
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company’s engineers see this as an “S” kind of year after they built so many improvements into the iPhone 12.
Oppo and Nendo's 'slide-phone' concept unfolds into three screen sizes
It unfurls into a clock and notification display, a selfie mode and a wide screen.
Royole's next foldable phone is much better at bending
When we spoke to Royole CEO Bill Liu back at CES 2019, we were told that his company's -- and the world's -- first foldable phone wouldn't be just a one-off. Today, the manufacturer finally unveiled the FlexPai 2, which is equipped with a tougher and more vibrant flexible display, along with a new robust hinge to keep everything together. More importantly, Royole claims to have reduced the crease that's all too common on existing foldable phones, partly thanks to its new material simulation model used throughout the development process.
Motorola's foldable display RAZR leaks ahead of today's launch
Motorola's upcoming foldable display RAZR has leaked just hours before the company is likely to announce it at an event in Los Angeles. These new photos of the phone come courtesy of a Federal Communications Commission certification. And while they don't reveal much about the phone we didn't already know, they do provide us with our best look at the device yet.
Samsung teases a clamshell foldable phone concept
Samsung's foldable display tech won't just be limited to book-like phones akin to the Galaxy Fold. The company used its annual Developer Conference to preview a vertically folding, clamshell-style form factor. The company only said it was "exploring" the concept as part of its overall work on foldable devices, but it clearly put some thought into the technology. A short demo showed a user recording video in full screen at one moment, and creating a split view with more extensive controls when folding the phone 90 degrees. This might be ideal for recording your hands-free TikTok clips -- you'd have a built-in stand.
Microsoft is considering foldable devices with liquid-filled hinges
Microsoft's dreams of dual-screen devices aren't disappearing any time soon. A recent patent filing from the company details a clamshell device concept whose hinge is filled with a liquid or gas to reduce strain on a foldable display and prevent debris from getting inside -- both sore points for foldables as of late. You could close this shut without worrying quite so much about wear and tear.
iFixit: Samsung's Galaxy Fold is 'alarmingly fragile' (updated)
There's been another teardown of the Galaxy Fold, and this one might help explain why Samsung decided to delay the phone's launch. iFixit has conducted a part-by-part dissection that suggests the design is "alarmingly fragile," particularly around the hinge. While the actual folding mechanism appears sturdy (if possibly vulnerable to wearing down in the long run), there's no ingress protection -- dirt can easily slip inside, potentially getting stuck between the hinge and the plastic OLED screen.
Samsung officially delays Galaxy Fold launch
Those rumors of Samsung delaying the Galaxy Fold have quickly proven true. Samsung has issued a statement to Engadget saying it would "delay the release" of the Fold after reviewers' broken units showed how the device needed "further improvements." Impacts on the top and bottom exposed areas of the hinge appeared to create problems based on early data, the company said, while substances that got into the device also "affected performance." Samsung planned to strengthen the display protection and "enhance the guidance" on care for the display to prevent people from removing the vital top layer of the screen.
Samsung's foldable AMOLED display: no creases, even after 100,000 tries
Samsung demoed some fascinating AMOLEDs at this year's CES, including 4.5-inch flexible and 19-inch transparent displays -- neither of which, sadly, will reach the market any time soon. But the innovation train keeps on rolling, and Sammy's Advanced Institute of Technology now has a prototype foldable display, which may or may not be the same reference design spotted at FPD 2008. Its two panels have a closing radius of only 1mm, meaning they practically touch when closed, yet show no visible crease when opened. In fact, the developers performed 100,000 folding-unfolding cycles to test the junction; the negligible 6% decrease in brightness was invisible to the human eye. They used commercially-available silicone rubber to achieve that seamless look, and the prototype featured a protective glass cover which could also function as a touchscreen. Obviously there's a market for touchscreens you can fold up and put in your pocket; here's hoping Samsung can make them available sooner rather than later.
Polymer Vision unveils "Cellular-Book" with rollable display
Phillips spin-off Polymer Vision looks to be making fast work on its most recent promise to commercialize its foldable display this year, with the company set to officially unveil the first product to use the would-be paper killer at next week's 3GSM conference in Spain. Somewhat awkwardly dubbed the "Cellular-Book," the device will initially be offered by Telecom Italia (in Italy, naturally) although it appears to be more book than cellular. The main bit of kit is, of course, that rollable, foldable display, which can extend to a full five inches yet still wrap up into a device "smaller than the typical mobile phone." The cellular part of the equation comes in the form of a combination of EDGE, UMTS, and DVB-H capabilities, which will give you access to an array of different services viewable in 16 levels of gray, including e-mail. RSS feeds and, of course, e-books, which you'll be able to purchase through Telecom Italia's mobile network. Though they won't make as heavy use of that display, you'll also be able to load up the device with music and podcasts, with a relatively hefty 4GB of storage provided to satisfy your media appetite. Unfortunately, there's no word on price or a launch date just yet, though that would seem to be likely detail to be revealed at the big unveiling next week.[Via TeleRead, thanks Richard]
Polymer Vision plans to commercialize foldable paper this year
If there's one thing the business-savvy CEOs of the world know, it's that you don't want your competition to get too far ahead of you, and just as Plastic Logic announced its plans to build the first electronic paper plant in Dresden, Germany, Polymer Vision is trying to make good on its nearly two-year old promise. During 2005's IFA expo, Philip assured us all that we'd be blown away by the firm's rollable, bendable displays in a mere two years, and now that 24 months have nearly elapsed, a company spinoff is looking to make it happen. According to a German report, Polymer Vision is still on track for "commercializing the foldable PV-QML5 display" that we've all grown quite fond of. Planning to use the technology in e-books and electronic map guides, the initial 4.8-inch display will tout a 320 x 200 resolution, 10:1 contrast ratio, support for four gray tones, and be only 100 micrometers thick. Sadly, no hard dates were passed down as to when we could expect the first production batch to head out to consumers, but now that there's some serious competition brewing just a few miles down the road, we'd bet a good bit of effort goes into making that 2007 date a reality.[Via I4U]
