Samsung's upcoming foldable smartphone now has an official name -- at least according to a very reliable leaker.
In a very short tweet, notorious leaker Evan Blass announced that Samsung's first foldable phone will be called the "Galaxy Fold," Tech Crunch reported. The name, which seems appropriate due to the fact that it is a foldable phone, has easily overshadowed the previously rumored, and easily and creatively mocked, "Galaxy F."
So far, not much is known about the folding smartphone except that uses the so-called Infinity Flex Display, a screen that allows it to fold at the middle, Metro reported. The Daily Mail reported that according to leaks, the screen measures about 4.5 inches when closed and in phone mode. When opened and in tablet mode, however, the display expands to 7.3 inches.
As for the phone's other specs such as processor, memory, internal storage and all that, Samsung hasn't released anything yet. Fans will just have to wait until the Korean giant unveils the new device at the MWC and makes it available for the public to see and at least hold, if not purchase.
New territory
The Galaxy Fold is believed to sell for a price higher than Apple's most expensive flagship, the iPhone XS Max. The reason for this, Golden Bridge Investment head Kim Jang-yeol told the Korean Times, is because the Galaxy Fold is the first mainstream device making its foray into relatively unknown territory.
Kim was right: the Galaxy Fold is the first foldable phone from a mainstream smartphone company, though it's not the first of its kind. Earlier, a company called the Royole Corporation (known as the Quarter Pounder Corporation in France according to Tech Crunch) released a foldable phone model, the FlexPai.
While Royole deserves a pat in the back for releasing the first commercially available foldable phone, the phone itself doesn't look like it deserves a clap. For a $1,300 price tag, it looks like an expensive piece of hardware meant to give the company the "first foldable phone" award. At least that's what Tech Crunch probably meant.
Hopefully, Samsung's foray into the foldable category will be a huge success. Apple itself plans to enter the folding phone scene and has filed a patent for what looks like an iPhone that folds in the middle using a hinge.
Should Apple release a foldable device of its own, whether a new iPhone, iPad, or another iDevice, Samsung will face serious competition? Fans will just have to wait and see how things will turn out.
