Samsung unveils plan for smartphones with bendable screens 'next year'
Breakthrough made by the use of organic light-emitting diodes
Samsung say new technology could be used in the S4
Announcement comes as tech firms rush to innovate mobile devices
Next year could bring a new twist in the evolution of the smartphone.
Samsung are gearing up to produce flexible, unbreakable mobile phone screens that can be bent, twisted and even folded up and put in your wallet.
The South Korean tech giant reportedly has the flexible screens in the final stage of development and will be ready to ship them next year.
Samsung had previously promised to bring flexible displays to market this year, but that deadline came and went without any announcement from the company.
LIGHTER AND MORE DURABLE
Flexible displays are made by depositing organic light emitting diodes on a flexible plastic surface.
Regular LED displays are usually made on a glass surface, but substituting that for a flexible plastic such as polyethylene terephthalate makes it possible to manufacture screens that are both flexible and lightweight.
One possible mass-production method might use a technique similar to inkjet printing.
However, the company's push for innovation has become more urgent as other display makers are also introducing different technologies for mobile phone and tablet screens.
Sony has been researching the same flexible screen technology since 2002, and showcased a 4.1in flexible OLED two years ago, the same time as Samsung showed off their version of the technology.
However, a spokesman for Sony told the Wall Street Journal he couldn't comment on when the company would begin mass producing the displays.
And earlier this year, Apple filed a patent for 'electronic devices with flexible displays' that included features like on-screen keyboards that can be modified to handle concave or convex curves.
Lee Chang-hoon, vice president of Samsung's display division, told the Journal his company has sent out samples of the new displays to a few select customers, but added that the release dates of any new products using the technology has not yet been confirmed.
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Posted By: DAVID JOHNSON
Wednesday, November 21st 2012 at 12:03PM
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