Rumor has it Samsung is gearing up to release its first foldable smartphone, codenamed “Project Valley,” early next year. It may sound like science fiction, but a recent patent from the South Korean company spotted by Patently Mobile reveals how Samsung could pull it off.
The theoretical design combines Samsung’s flexible OLED technology with a new hinge setup. There’s also a pair of springs on either side of the hinge to power the entire system. The patent surfaced last month, though it was filed back in 2014 when the company first started teasing the possibility of a foldable smartphone.
It looks like a pretty practical concept, though we’re still not sure why anyone would actually want a foldable smartphone. If you’re a fan of big phablets this might make it easy to fit the device in your pocket once it’s folded up. Still, that’s probably not enough to convince us to pay extra for this futuristic handset, unless the display is truly seamless when fully unfolded.
If Samsung really does launch a foldable smartphone, we’re sure it will introduce some new gimmicks to go with it, though hopefully the company can come up with something really worthwhile for the rumored device.
Source: technobuffalo.com
