Samsung shows off an Infinity Flex foldable smartphone

[HEXUS]

Meanwhile, Google intros native foldable device support in Android.

Read more.

[ksdp37]

I like the idea of a large screen when open but it takes me back to the days of the Nokia communicator; it just seems to thick when folded to comfortably fit in my pocket.

[chj]

Yes the thickness is a problem as a mobile should fit in your pocket, perhaps thickness will be reduced over the generations. I can't say that when i look at my phone i wish the display was bigger so to me this hold little appeal, apart from using it with a DS emulator and having space for both screens . I'll be interested in how the hinged bit of screen holds up over time.

[Ttaskmaster]

perhaps thickness will be reduced over the generations.

It always is.
It's as if tech companies instinctively know how thin something has to be before I drop it, and then make it half an inch thinner, just to make me drop it.... because then I have to buy another, innit.

I can't say that when i look at my phone i wish the display was bigger so to me this hold little appeal

Despite having a stupidly big phone already, ther are times when I'd find it useful - Gaming, doing spreadsheets, reading a technical manual or schematic in Kindle or PDF... Movies too would be better and I'm sure I could think of a dozen more.

But the fold-up element could eliminate the need for tablets almost entirely. You probably don't need it because you don't have it, in the same way we coped with some amazing phone and PDA features a few years ago, that would be truly awful in today's world...

In phone threads you often have people arguing about screen space (usually using the totally inappropriate term I hate) within certain constraints, namely pocket size*, whereas this form factor goes a good way to removing those constraints.
Plus I love clamshells anyway, so it's all cool.


*Dunno about anyone else, but my pockets are actually rather large. I can fit a Nintendo DS in them quite comfortably and, folded up, this thing looks to be of similar dimensions anyway...

[globalwarning]

Looking at it in his hand, it actually doesn't look that bad. As a guy, even my skinny jeans pockets are big enough to handle that. I currently use an LG V20, and it doesn't look that much bigger than that.

There's some other unanswered questions, though:

How does it hold up under stress in a pocket (front or back) when you sit down?
How well does it really fold flat?
Does the tablet mode really make sense as an interface for a "phone"? (it kind of forces you to use both hands!)
Are we still stuck without actual windows for apps? (I personally don't particularly find the multi-window function on android or iOS intuitive or useful.)

[big_hairy_rob]

2 screens & foldable. so another bonkers reactionary launch for a product that will be ill affordable and highly unnecessary...

[Output]

What I wonder is whether you are meant to have it in the tablet form when on an actual call (and not on the loudspeaker option or video-call).

Common sense would suggest you'd keep it folded, but the question is whether they'll actually take the common sense route.

[rob4001]

1st gen products like these are always clunky and expensive.

[Moonister]

for god's sake can we please have a practical foldable phone already...this rumor has been going on for like 5 yrs. instead we got all sort of "features" that nobody asked for (notch, emoji)

[Ttaskmaster]

for god's sake can we please have a practical foldable phone already...this rumor has been going on for like 5 yrs.

I would say more like 8+ years, since I first saw demo models of foldable screens at the various tech reveal shows.

[Foxdragon]

Does anyone think that these phones are going to be released soon or not?

[mtyson]

According to The Verge, Via Korea's Yonhap News, "the alleged Galaxy F will be an exclusive device that may command a price as high as $1,770".

[Output]

"the alleged Galaxy F will be an exclusive device that may command a price as high as $1,770".

[Ttaskmaster]

According to The Verge, Via Korea's Yonhap News, "the alleged Galaxy F will be an exclusive device that may command a price as high as $1,770".

May... or may not.
Either way, it will be a while before us regular folks can afford folding screens anyway, so what's the worry?

Besides, it's not as if Yonhap have never led the Western media astray with their own misreporting of things......!!

[Snarf]

They probably should have waited till the casing was finalized and refined. They were saying its a prototype design only, but everyone who I've talked to about it never read that part. They just think it looks too bulky and tacky.