Samsung may have a game changer in its hands when it revealed an unlikely TKTKTKT at the Samsung Developer Conference 2018 in San Francisco. While foldable phones may seem like a thing of the past - best limited to its fashionable use in "The Matrix" - it seems that the tech giant has other ideas about how the seemingly outdated feature fits into the near future's trends.
Ars Technica's Ron Amadeo recently covered Samsung's announcement of a piece of technology the company is calling the "Infinity Flex Display." The showcase involved the presentation of a yet-to-be-announced mobile phone model, which then proceeded to unfold itself into a bigger device. The new mobile phone becomes similar in size to recently available phablets and showcased the possibility of being folded both inwards, and outwards.
Samsung's new foldable phone showcased during the conference is reported to have a plastic cover made up of "advanced composite polymers" designed by Samsung in-house. Samsung assures its audience that their specific technology can allow the foldable phone to be folded as many times as possible without any concern about damaging or degrading the material.
Tech enthusiasts will know that showcasing Samsung's new foldable phone is not simply about the tech company simply announcing a new and interesting product. The introduction of technology which allows the malleability of smartphones' actual physical structure opens up new ways of making mobile communication more accesible to the public.
Samsung themselves mention during the conference that the foldable mobile phone is hardly the cutting edge of what they are working on. The mobile phone manufacturer mentions that "rollable" and "stretchable" are currently in reaserch and development for the near future. Access to such technology could increase the variety and capabilities of Samsung's future product lines.
While Samsung is not the first company looking forward to rolling out a foldable smartphone, it could be the first to go to market if it beats Royole's release of its FlexPai smartphone. Regardless of who goes to market first, it seems that flexible smartphones will be a sure thing of the future with Google's Android already announcing official support for flexible smart phones.
If a foldable smartphone sounds too good to be true - or feels like another incoming fad, - the many attendees of the Samsung Developer Conference 2018 could give any doubter a moment to think about how foldable phones will be an intergral part of the near future. Fans who missed the Samsung Developer Conference 2018 and its live stream can watch the stored video stream on Samsung Dev's official Youtube channel.
