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Technology

Samsung Is Secretly Working on a Foldable Phone That Collapses Into a Square (bloomberg.com) 45

Posted by msmash from the up-next dept.
Samsung is preparing to unveil its second foldable device early next year, a luxury phone that folds down into a compact-sized square. From a report: The South Korean smartphone giant is working on a device with a 6.7-inch inner display that shrinks to a pocketable square when it's folded inward like a clamshell, according to people familiar with the product's development. Samsung is seeking to make its second bendable gadget more affordable and thinner than this year's Galaxy Fold, they said. The launch of the successor device may, however, hinge on how well the Fold performs after its imminent launch, one of the people said.

Samsung is collaborating with American designer Thom Browne on its upcoming foldable phone, endeavoring to appeal to a broader range of consumers that includes those more interested in fashion, status and luxury than a device's tech specs. For the techies, it will sport cutting-edge display technology and the nostalgic appeal of rejuvenating the flip-phone. The new foldable phone will have a hole-punch selfie camera at the top of the inner display, just as on the recently released Samsung Galaxy Note 10, according to one person familiar with the device. On the outside, it will have two cameras that face the rear when the phone is open or the front when it's flipped closed.
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Samsung Is Secretly Working on a Foldable Phone That Collapses Into a Square More

Samsung Is Secretly Working on a Foldable Phone That Collapses Into a Square

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  • "Will Foldable Screens Save Smartphones?"

      Huh? Is everybody going back to a dumb flip phone now?

    • let's have a "semi-dumb phone"

      foldable phone with pressable buttons rather than touch screen sounds good to me

      working a smartphone on an electric train that bounces around is a PITA

    • Re:From TFA (Score:5, Interesting)

      by pr0fessor ( 1940368 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2019 @01:08PM (#59152454)

      “I’ve consistently held the view that so-called ‘foldables’ are currently a solution looking for a problem,” Wood said.

      How about a phone I can fit in my pocket and not worry about messing up the screen but still has a screen large enough for me to read comfortably? I would love to have a 6" screen but carrying that around is awkward and if there is change or keys in my pocket they will mess up the screen. If I could have a 6" phone that I fold in half that would then protect the screen and make fitting it in my pocket easier. I think a foldable screen phone takes care of that very real problem.

      • Indeed. Many (most?) of have a phone and a tablet; we would love to be able to have a single device that can be used as either and which, at the same time, can be stuffed in a normal-sized pocket. Apart from this, a device that won't make you look like a complete dork when you put it to your ear - unless you are built like Shaquille O'Neal - would be most welcome. Surely that's no so difficult to understand, Mr. Wood?

  • Samsung Is Secretly Working on a Foldable Phone That Collapses Into a Square

    Secretly? Not any more they're not, now they are just working on it.

    • If I were them, I would try to keep this stupid idea secret. Alas, it's not a secret anymore.

  • Doesn't the exact timeline on the Fold have yet to be determined?

  • I personally have always been interested in the success of folding phones, as I think it may end up being a really good idea even if current implementations have flaws...

    But a four sectioned folding screens sounds really nuts to me. It just sounds like having more folds because it's possible, not because it's a good idea...

    Refine the current single fold device you have now into something amazing, THEN maybe work on your Tesseract model.

    • But a four sectioned folding screens sounds really nuts to me. It just sounds like having more folds because it's possible, not because it's a good idea...

      Looks like a presentation model for marketing and electronic shows to me, why not - stuff we use daily always roots there first.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Anybody remember Tennessee Tuxedo? There was a character named Professor Whoopee who had a '3DBB' (three dimensional blackboard). Started out as a small square then was stretched into a large writing area. Whatever he drew would animate - very cool.
  • ... need balls of steel.

  • Imagine a phone that opens up like a small book. So when it's closed it's the size of a normal smartphone. And when it opens, it's the same height but twice as wide. Assuming the two halves of the screen are continuously connected by folding screen, then you would have a continuous wide screen, which would be much better for reading documents or typing on a virtual keyboard.

    • How about a regular smart phone with a 6" screen that folds in half both protecting the screen and making it fit in my pocket more easily? I would consider that a valid practical use for a folding screen and a good first product.

      As for turning my phone into a computer why not just make it cast a desktop to any wireless display available? I already have a house full of wireless displays.

      • How about a regular smart phone with a 6" screen that folds in half both protecting the screen and making it fit in my pocket more easily?

        That sounds like a pretty great idea to me, it seems kind of crazy in retrospect they didn't start with something like that!

        I think that would be more popular than folding phones with two fairly large screens, because as you say it would let you carry a large phone like people have today, only it could fit in more pockets.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by necro81 ( 917438 )

      Imagine a phone that opens up like a small book. So when it's closed it's the size of a normal smartphone. And when it opens, it's the same height but twice as wide.

      Sooooo, you mean a Galaxy Fold [samsung.com]? Based on your user ID, I know you're not new around here, so surely you've already heard of this.

      • That is exactly it! Didn't know it already existed (or is about to exist). I don't follow tech device news as closely as I could.

  • How about working on what Users want? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by mykepredko ( 40154 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2019 @01:23PM (#59152500) Homepage

    I feel like the emphasis Smartphone designers are making is to cram the latest and bestest technology into the new phones when I really feel like they need to spend some time thinking about how they are used, looking for situations where they would work better for users.

    So what if the phone folds up into a square, how does that make it easier, more efficient for me as a user?

    Personally, I'd like to see a smartphone that you can:
    - drop in a parking lot and not worry about the screen cracking
    - has a superior antenna so that the phone works consistently in all situations (ie elevators)
    - has a decent speaker phone mode that can be used where you'd normally use a speaker phone
    - has a 3.5mm jack so I can buy replacement headphones from Dollar Tree
    - works with two SIM cards

    Give me that and then start trying to figure out how to make it foldable

    • Often they can give you want you want. So they offer what they know how to do. Your specific complaints, answered:

      1) Good phone case solves the drop problem.
      2) Phone antenna are about as good as it can get, the solution to the coverage is to improve the CELL TOWER, which they are working on.
      3) Problem with speaker phone is that the microphone is too good. It picks up background noise which causes a problem. I can't see a path to solving that problem, with out having people wear the mike. Software can

      • 5) Two Sim cards are not in demand because businesses do not want you to combine your personal and work phone. They would rather you keep them separate so they can easily confiscate your work phone without worrying about you having transferred stuff from your work sim to you personal sim.

        Aren't Dual SIM phones easy to find? I've been getting them, and I neither specifically looked for nor use that feature.

        Here, at a casual browse from Amazon, are some dual SIM phones:

        Here's one that's cheap, about $50

        http [amazon.com]

      • 5) Two Sim cards are not in demand because businesses do not want you to combine your personal and work phone.
        The are in high demand. E.g.
        * for people who want cheap internet on one sim card and ordinary phone on the other
        * countries with many networks, where a network gives free calls inside of the network
        * people who move from one country to the other regularly aka, from Germany to Switzerland (which does not belong to the EU and has roaming charges, so rather have a Swiss SIM card) or Thailand to Laos et

    • Regarding speaker phone, 3.5mm, and sim cards... the problem is that there are competing design requirements to all of these: Water Resistance and Price. Every hole you add to a phone makes it more difficult to make waterproof, and the number of people who care about water resistance > number of people who need two sim cards.

      Competing design requirements abound, and anecdotes are not data; the manufacturers are not pushing people toward Bluetooth out of the blue, they're doing it because water resistance

    • It sounds like you want what is called a building contractor's phone. Caterpillar markets a line of them. The dual SIM models are hard to get in the US but exist.

    • - has a superior antenna so that the phone works consistently in all situations (ie elevators)
      Did it ever occur to you that the problem is the elevator and not the antenna, aka the faraday casing of steal around you?

  • If it is being posted to /.

  • I miss my Lotus. It was tough enough to use without a case. It had a great keyboard.

  • Samsung is seeking to make its second bendable gadget more affordable and thinner than this year's Galaxy Fold, they said. The launch of the successor device may, however, hinge on how well the Fold performs after its imminent launch, one of the people said.

    I saw what they did there.

  • with modern guts and a real spring-loaded slider

  • It already exists... (Score:3)

    by LynnwoodRooster ( 966895 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2019 @02:30PM (#59152874) Journal
    You can fold a current Samsung Galaxy Note 10 into a near perfect square. Doesn't work too well afterwards, but it folds into a nice square...

  • Another video source? (Score:3)

    by Doke ( 23992 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2019 @02:55PM (#59153008) Homepage
    Is there another source for the video? I turned on something like 30 sources of javascript, and it still wouldn't play.
  • A square phone will be hard to hold onto compared today's rectangular prisms. You'll definitely need a case for the 2D edges. I think sticking with a 3D form factor is better -- I bet the TSA won't even allow such a cutting device on planes. This drive for "thinnest phone" has gone too far! Even so, it is neat tech that I'm sure will have application somewhere.

  • ... Frank Gehry to design my folding phone.

  • At least I can wring it out.

  • Oh boy, 20 years after being introduced, they finally get noted by the big G.

  • > The launch of the successor device may, however, hinge on how well the Fold performs

    I see what you did there.

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