Flexible display smartphones have a long way to go; flexible batteries is a start in the right direction

By Nimish Sawant /  18 Oct 2016 , 16:03

Earlier this week, a video leaked online showing a Xiaomi flexible display prototype. The concept display leaked on Youku is a 30-second clip showing a display running MIUI skinned Android OS. The lower half of the phone is bent. The user is swiping smoothly through various apps.

Sense of deja vu?

This is not the first time that we have heard of bendable or flexible displays. LG and Samsung have released phones with curved displays. We have seen the LG G Flex and G Flex 2 phones, Samsung had also released the Galaxy Round some years ago. But we have seen with both these devices, the limit to which the flex could be applied. Barring the flexible displays, everything else in these phones was pretty much standard fare. With non-bendable internals and battery, there is only so much a flexible display can do.

From the prototypes seen this year, it looks like 2017 will see a fair share of flexible display smartphones as well. Lenovo had showcased its prototype which you can wrap around your wrist and Samsung’s concept is looking at a 2017 release, most likely at MWC 2017. We had seen this Samsung flexible display prototype ad three years ago, but have yet to

Xiaomi reportedly building a smartphone with flexible display

  19 Oct 2016 , 15:16

Joining the race to build a bendable smartphone, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is reportedly working on its own version of such a device.

According to Inquirer, Xiaomi’s device made its public debut over the internet through a 30-second video posted last week.

The video, courtesy of Gizmodo China, did not show the phone being bent but rather a bent screen that is very responsive to touch.

Flexible displays or foldable, bendable smartphones are the future and earlier this year, another Chinese major Lenovo became the first company to display two futuristic concepts: a foldable smartphone that can be turned into a wearable device and a bendable tablet that becomes a phablet.

Apart from Lenovo, Korean smartphone-maker Samsung has been working on foldable displays for years and is reported to be ready to launch its first foldable smartphone in 2017.

Apple has also gone for patents that suggest it is set to develop iPhones with curved screens.

IANS