TCL: slide out screens are better than folding for smartphones

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Concept phone, readied for MWC, is designed to expand sideways to become a tablet.

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Read more.

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Originally Posted by HEXUS

However, the lack of any video / animation material makes it unclear how the screen extension mechanism operates

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Aw come on... It blatantly rolls up along the slider section edge. That's why it has curved edges like a Galaxy Edge phone. One of those is the roller around which the screen rolls, as the slider slides in behind.
I think even Mr Tyson knows this, though perhaps cannot officially say so, which is why "the front of the phone doesn't appear to suffer from any unrolling artefacts".... ;)

The "roller" got to be on the left side, it cant really be on the right side as the camera arrays are there.
I think it will be awkward to open / close.

It would be nice if the mechanism was spring loaded so it have to lock in place when you open it, sort of like old roller blinders, so to open them ( or in this case close the phone ) all you have to do is pull a little in it and the spring will pull the devise together.

And since the back side are clear metal you should be good, but upside down and the friction to the screen the devise might fall from your hand.

I do wish phone manufactures would stop with all this folding/sliding screen garbage.

It's like they were bored on a Friday afternoon and said "Hey, remember 15/20 years ago when flip phones were cool, let do that with a smartphone!" Then a few weeks later bought it up at board meeting and ran with it because they've run out of practical ideas & innovation.

I don't want either. I'm not interested in buying either. Please just make phones that are worth their money and not just a bloomin' gimmick

As if a single simple hinge wasn't a big enough engineering disaster.

TBH i do think this can be more simple than the hinges in the folding smartphones.

BUT ! i am on my last phone, unless my mother intend to live surprisingly longer, or i drop / ruin it in which case i will have to get a new one for the sake of my mother.
So i am not going to get a folding or sliding or hologram phone.

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Originally Posted by Gentle Viking

TBH i do think this can be more simple than the hinges in the folding smartphones.

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Yeah, but it can't possibly be like the one shown in the render, in any way I think it's a bad idea, just imagine a grain of sand getting stuck behind the screen, inside the mechanism, screen immediately destroyed! And on the front render it shows the screen ending just past the bezel with a pretty big opening behind it for things to get in while open, and then trapped when closing.

That's a big no-no.

Reminds me of the LG roll-up TVs we saw at CES a few years ago. I liked the concept.

I still think R&D should be focused more on re-eliminating the notch/hole in screens before folding/rolling/expanded but hey ho, fixing that critical flaw isn't as sexy for the marketing team as making screens that can grow so it makes sense :)

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Originally Posted by edmundhonda

As if a single simple hinge wasn't a big enough engineering disaster.

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Agreed... more mechanism = more points of potential failure.

Also that sliding mechanism looks suspiciously like it may be prone to nibbling people's pinkies!

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Originally Posted by edmundhonda

As if a single simple hinge wasn't a big enough engineering disaster.

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Works fine on my fridge and kitchen cupboards... and on my car door... and my toughbook laptops... and my compass... and loads of other things that get opened and closed forty-plus times a day, often in harsh conditions.

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Originally Posted by Skyflier

I do wish phone manufactures would stop with all this folding/sliding screen garbage.

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OK, let's hear your ideas...
Situation: Modern phones have gotten way too big for practical use, but we need increasingly larger screens to cope with all the apps and websites people want/have to use.
Mission: Devise a convenient portable solution to replace slate/phablet form factors.

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Originally Posted by meuvoy

just imagine a grain of sand getting stuck behind the screen, inside the mechanism, screen immediately destroyed! And on the front render it shows the screen ending just past the bezel with a pretty big opening behind it for things to get in while open, and then trapped when closing.

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I know a lot of HEXUS doesn't like firearms, but have you seen pistols like the Glock series, which are designed to work even after being dragged through sand, dust, grit and mud?
Big gaps that allow the cack to escape and ensure the proper operation of the weapon... especially good since a failure can result in the thing blowing up in your hand!

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Originally Posted by Ttaskmaster

Works fine on my fridge and kitchen cupboards... and on my car door... and my toughbook laptops... and my compass... and loads of other things that get opened and closed forty-plus times a day, often in harsh conditions.

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Yes, but not with a folding glass / polymer display, with fragile embedded circuitry, straddling the hinge mechanism and getting progressively more creased with each use of said mechanism.

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Originally Posted by Ttaskmaster

Modern phones have gotten way too big for practical use

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Maybe... if you have Hobbit hands?

;-)

There's also no shortage of mid-sized phones at time of writing.

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Originally Posted by Ttaskmaster

but we need increasingly larger screens to cope with all the apps and websites people want/have to use.

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Do we? Reactive websites and apps that offer a scrolling viewport (arguably) solved these problems long ago.

Of all the implementations revealed so far, Microsoft's upcoming foldable phone/tablets perhaps have the most going for them - e.g. using dual screen hardware that presents fewer reliability concerns (no flexing display compromises) and actually gives users the benefit of a larger usable display area.

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Originally Posted by KultiVator

Yes, but not with a folding glass / polymer display, with fragile embedded circuitry, straddling the hinge mechanism and getting progressively more creased with each use of said mechanism.

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Early days.
They always said clamshell devices would keep breaking but, barring obvious misuse and abuse by hamfisted owners, most survived just fine.

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Originally Posted by KultiVator

Maybe... if you have Hobbit hands?

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I have Size 10 hands, or XXXL in common shop parlance.
It's the pockets that are the problem, along with the inherrently problematic nature of the form factor - Large, thin sheet of easily flexed/broken glass in a large, thin housing.

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Originally Posted by KultiVator

There's also no shortage of mid-sized phones at time of writing.

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I'm on a budget. My choice is governed by price, not trend... and yet even the trendy ones are getting larger.

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Originally Posted by KultiVator

Do we? Reactive websites and apps that offer a scrolling viewport (arguably) solved these problems long ago.

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I'm probably not using the 'correct' or fashionable apps for this modern era, so I don't know what a scrolling viewport is, but I bet I can't watch YouTube decently with it... Also, Office apps suck on mobile and even small tablet screens. So do most games, which is why I use Blue Stacks. Other things are often pretty crap compared to the full desktop versions.

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Originally Posted by Ttaskmaster

Works fine on my fridge and kitchen cupboards... and on my car door... and my toughbook laptops... and my compass... and loads of other things that get opened and closed forty-plus times a day, often in harsh conditions.

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I felt like the 'on a phone' part was implied heavily enough that I didn't need to say it. There's always one though, right?

I am anal about some things, a notch or hole for a camera in the screen of a damn phone are not it.
Really what major inconvenience is that to people ?

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Originally Posted by edmundhonda

I felt like the 'on a phone' part was implied heavily enough that I didn't need to say it. There's always one though, right?

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I don't like to assume someone's implications, as it invariably turns out wrong. :p
And yes, there can be only one and I usually am 'The One'...

But as above, I've had single simple hinges on devices for decades now and all still work just fine. Abused and misused things will break... which just means you'll have to buy another (cunning move, eh?).