Samsung is rumored to be developing a new device for launch in 2014 with a flexible display that envelops the device’s edges, allowing users to read messages while the device’s main display is at a non-viewable angle. The three-sided display will be manufactured using a new iteration of Samsung’s proprietary Youm OLED displays, according to a new report by Bloomberg. The publication’s sources were quite regarding the release date but inferred that it could hit shelves as soon as the second half of 2014.
The South Korean manufacturer showed off a prototype of such a device during the company’s keynote address at January’s CES trade show in Las Vegas where they introduced the display technology that is said to form the foundation of the new smartphone. Youm is a flexible OLED technology that uses plastic, rather than glass, as a substrate for the display’s transistors. Samsung said the current generation of 5.7-inch Youm panels, which many believe power the company’s recent Korea-only Galaxy Round smartphone, are just 0.12 millimeters thick.
Curved displays seem to be a growing trend in smartphones but it remains to be seen whether the trend is here to stay. So far, the only companies that also have a manufacturing interest in flexible display technology, namely Samsung and LG, have released devices with the feature and even then only in the companies’ home market of South Korea.
The Cupertino California company is said to be exploring devices with curved glass displays but the technology’s real future may be within wearable devices such as Apple’s rumored “iWatch,” which many believe will make use of flexible displays to wrap around users’ wrists.
Source: Bloomberg
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