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4
Whyisthisa
big deal?
AssomanyYouTubevideosof
the iPhone 6 Plus have shown
us,rigiddevicescansnap
under pressure. Flexible
screens have no glass to shatter
andaremuchmoredurable
whendroppedorbumped.
Another benefit is that they’re
lighter and slimmer.
5
How does it work?
Traditionally phones not
only have a Gorilla Glass cover
to protect the outside, but a
layer of glass inside containing
the circuitry to control the
pixels of the LED. Instead,
flexible P-OLED displays use
multiple layers of plastic.
9
Thefutureofflex
LG doesn’t think flexible
tech ends with a slightly
bendable screen. From 2017
onwards, the manufacturer
planstobeproducingflexible
screen phones that can be
folded in
half an
tablets
can be
rolled u
like a
newspa
8
Bendable batteries
Back in October, Samsung’s SDI
division,whichdealsinallthings
battery related,
demonstrated a
thinpowercellthat
couldbewrapped
aroundacoffeecup
and still work.
Again, this was a
prototype, but
perhaps the firm
has perfected it for
the flexible phone.
LG G
Flex 2
msung is
the only
egetting
on the
xible
rket – LG
dSony
ve also
en working on flexible devices for years.
lowing on from 2013’s G Flex, LG has
also said it will be putting out a fully
bendable phone in 2015.
things you need to
know about...
Flexible screens
10
When can you
get one?
Though Lee Chang-hoon has
confi rmed that Samsung’s
fl exible phone will be
available in 2015, no offi cial
announcement has been
made and we don’t expect
anything until at least
autumn. Fingers crossed.
2
Early experiments
This is not the fi rst
we’ve heard of fl exible
screens. Samsung
showed off similar
prototypes at CES
- These wafer-
thin devices were no
more than one
centimetre thick, but included a 5.86-inch A MOLED
touch screen that could be bent and folded.
3
Flex vs curve
Flexible phones
should not be mixed up
with curved displays,
such as the Samsung
Galax y Round or
(confusingly) the LG G
Flex. These devices have
contoured displays that
make them more comfortable to hold, but still
rigid to hold. Flexible phones will actually bend.
7
Flexibl
weara
Though the fi
given no time
as to when to
it, LG has also
speculated th
P-OLED scree
be made into
wearables. Ra
just having an
watch face disp y, y
could wrap fl exible screens
around our wrists.
1
Foldable phones
Following the Note Edge, Samsung
has confi rmed it will produce a
fl exible phone by the
end of 2015. Lee Chang-
hoon, vice president of
Samsung’s business strategic
team, said: “We will secure
production capacit y of 30,
to 40,000 [flexible displays each
month] by the end of next year”.