Rumors of a Samsung smartphone with a foldable display have been rampant of late, and the company confirmed that it’s working on such a…
Rumors of a Samsung smartphone with a foldable display have been rampant of late, and the company confirmed that it’s working on such a device at the Samsung Developer Conference this afternoon. The so-called Infinity Flex display made its debut in a “pocket-sized smartphone” that can fold open to reveal a 7.3″ display—just a bit short of the diagonal of other small tablets like the iPad mini 4. The company’s prototype device also has a screen on one of its outer faces for use when the full-size internal display isn’t needed or practical.
Samsung’s push to make foldable displays the next thing in phones has Google’s official blessing, too. In a post on the Android Developers blog, the company revealed support for a new device class like Samsung’s prototype called “Foldables.” Google anticipates there will be two-screen and one-screen devices using this technology, and it says it’s optimizing Android to deal with cases like starting a video on the outer screen of a two-screen device and seamlessly moving that video to the internal screen when the device is unfolded.
Image: Google
Google says to expect foldable devices from Samsung and “several” other Android manufacturers starting next year. The firm will be sharing more information about the possibilities of foldable devices at its own Android Dev Summit running from November 7 through 8 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.
