Samsung Electronics has unveiled a new phone with a foldable screen designed to sway the smartphone business with a black shiny rectangle that looks more and more similar.
At a conference for software developers in San Francisco on Wednesday, the company previewed the so-called Infinity Flex Display and announced new software for controlling large mobile phones. Developers will be able to create apps for gadgets that, like other Samsung phones, will be based on the Android operating system.
The Korean tech giant did not say when the device will start selling, what its price is, or what the name of the phone is. During the demonstration, Samsung also covered everything outside the screen with an extra casing, pretending to be the rest of the phone's design - similar to the way the camouflage prototype was used in street testing.
However, the basics are clear. When turned off, the device looks like a standard smartphone. It opens like a book, showing another 7.3-inch display, which will be one of the largest mobile phone screens ever released. It will be big enough to run three applications side by side, while Samsung's recent big smartphone Note 9 has two.
The company said the display can be folded hundreds of thousands of times. Samsung said it is also exploring screens that can be scrolled and stretched, but does not use these technology to preview devices.
Samsung plans to release a simulator to help developers write and test foldable screen applications, and will host a meeting with developers to teach them how to write software for devices. The company is working with Google and its Android division to develop low-level software to power foldable devices. Google's Android design director Glen Murphy spoke at the conference.
In October, Bloomberg News reported that the folding phone will be available for sale in the second quarter of 2019. Samsung confirmed on Wednesday that the mass production of the screen will begin in the next few months.
Samsung is not the first company to try a collapsible phone, but the company's display technology, coverage and marketing capabilities may become mainstream. Last year, ZTE announced the launch of a foldable mobile phone that failed with the reviewers. Earlier this week, consumer electronics startup Royole announced similar devices in China.
Samsung also showed a new software interface called One UI that includes simplified controls, new icons and more rounded corners. The new look is optimized for use with thumb control devices, which is required as the screen gets larger.
Samsung said the interface will be launched this month in the US, Germany and South Korea as an early test version. The software will be officially launched on January at Galaxy S9 and Note 9.
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