Two ‘foldable’ bendy phones are launching this summer

Forget phones, tablets and ‘phablets’ – the next big thing could be ‘smartlets’, phones which unfold into tablets.

Both Samsung and LG are planning to launch devices which ‘unfold’ into larger screens – allowing users to keep a tablet-style device in a pocket, according to the Korea Herald.

Samsung is expected to launch a device codenamed ‘Foldable Valley’ which turns into a 7-inch tablet when unfolded – and will launch in August.

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Apple also quietly patented a foldable iPhone concept, filing on August 28, last year – detailing
a device which uses ‘carbon nanotubes’ to allow the screen to fold while still working.

Lee Seung Woo, an analyst at IBK Securities Company said last year, ‘‘This product could be a game-changer if Samsung successfully comes up with a user interface suitable for bendable screens.’

‘Their biggest obstacle was related to making transparent plastics and making them durable, which seems resolved by now.’

Samsung has previously teased the idea with various videos showing how a ‘bendable’ smartphone might work.

Nearly two years ago, Samsung wowed an audience in Las Vegas with a working mobile phone screen which could be rolled and unrolled like a sheet of paper.

The screen kept working as it was rolled and unrolled – and was built to be “virtually unbreakable”, Samsung claimed.