Samsung showed a quick demonstration of a thick-looking phone that folds out to become a tablet. — Samsung/dpa
Samsung announced a major new phone at an app developers' conference in San Francisco on Nov 7 – and it's finally the foldable smartphone we've all been waiting for.
During the keynote, Justin Denison, SVP of mobile product marketing, presented a "disguised" device, saying the company did not want to reveal the entire look yet.
However, viewers were able to get a quick glimpse of a rather thick-looking phone that folds out to become a fully-fledged tablet, without any sign of hinge or crease on the screen's folding axis.
The South Korean tech giant also provide some information about how they were able to create the device.
The display is covered not by glass, which is notoriously inflexible, but by what Samsung has called an "Infinity Flex Display," which also uses an adhesive that, according to Samsung, allows the screen to be folded several thousand times without any degradation.
The company also announced that the Infinity Flex Display could also be adapted to be rollable and flexible – and that they were ready to begin production of the displays within the next few months.
The new phone will also be able to run three applications at the same time in an "multi-active window" that can allow several windows for apps to be open simultaneously.
Google simultaneously announced that its Android smartphone platform would support the new folding format for smartphones, pointing to the ability to continue using an app as you switch between compact and folded-out mode.
"Android apps run seamlessly as the device folds, achieving this form factor's chief feature: screen continuity," the developers said.
Samsung did not reveal when the phone may come out, but experts expect the phone will hit the markets in the first half of 2019.
China's Huawei has also announced plans to present a new foldable smartphone in mid-2019, whereas another China-based company, Royole, has already unveiled a foldable phone priced at US$1,300 (RM5,430), which will go on sale in December. – dpa
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