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The First Phone You Can Actually Bend: LG's G Flex

Posted by Soulskill on from the just-in-case-you-want-to-use-your-phone-as-a-slingshot dept.

iONiUM writes "As a follow up to LG's announcement of mass flexible OLED production, and as a competitor to the limited Samsung Round trial which was only available in Korea on SK Telecom, LG has released the G Flex phone which is curved vertically (instead of the Round's horizontal bend, which many thought was the 'wrong way'). In addition, the G Flex can actually be flexed, as shown in the video in the article."

92 comments

  1. Why would you want to? by Valdrax · · Score: 2

    Why would you actually want to flex a phone? Does it make it more durable or more comfortable to hold in some way? According to the article, it takes a bit of force to do, so I doubt it's the latter.

    (This isn't a criticism so much as bewildered curiosity.)

    --
    If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
    1. Re:Why would you want to? by sshir · · Score: 0

      It should be better at surviving drops. Part of impact energy will go into bending and not into shuttering stuff.

    2. Re:Why would you want to? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (This isn't a criticism so much as bewildered curiosity.)

      Whew. I'm glad you said that. I was terrible offended until you did.

    3. Re:Why would you want to? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For when you sit on it
      For when it drops
      And possibly for that drunken show-off moment announcing you'll do a flip on the trampoline, but end up in 'scorpion position' - heels bend forward over the back of your head, and the phone bending with all the fun.
      But actually just because it can be manufactured. Pretty much this.

    4. Re:Why would you want to? by alvinrod · · Score: 0

      Also if the surface is curved, the glass won't be pressed up against the surface when set down, which should reduce scratching.

    5. Re:Why would you want to? by msauve · · Score: 1

      I suppose it might save the phone if you carry it in a back pocket and sit on it. That seems to be a common failure mode.

      Other than that, it's a marketing gimmick.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    6. Re:Why would you want to? by iONiUM · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I honestly I think this, like the Samsung Round, is a "shot in the market" to see what people want. Basically Korean makers now have flexible screens, but can't (yet) make fully flexible phones, so they're just sort of coming up with random phones to see where the interest lies.

      It's basically early alpha editions of what will eventually be fully flexible phones. That's my take, anyways, from visiting Korea and seeing this stuff.

    7. Re:Why would you want to? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      If it's to help the phone survive drops, then that's what they should talk about.

      I can't imagine a reason I would ever want to bend my phone.

      Now if I were planning on going to prison, I could see how a bendable phone might make it easier to smuggle one into my cell, but it's still not going to be very comfortable, going in or coming out. And god forbid I get a call while my phone is hidden in a body cavity. I keep my phone on vibrate and it could get very embarrassing.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    8. Re:Why would you want to? by Anonymous+Crowbar · · Score: 1

      I've laid awake at night for years hoping for a bendable phone.

    9. Re:Why would you want to? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      god forbid I get a call while my phone is hidden in a body cavity. I keep my phone on vibrate and it could get very embarrassing.

      Don't be embarrassed; it's okay to feel good!

    10. Re:Why would you want to? by timeOday · · Score: 1

      What do you use as a wallet? Not a rigid box made of metal and glass, I'll wager.

    11. Re:Why would you want to? by gmhowell · · Score: 1

      Why would you actually want to flex a phone?

      Given the strange attraction some on slashdot seem to have to technological devices, I'm imagining Rule 34 enters into it.

      --
      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
    12. Re:Why would you want to? by gmhowell · · Score: 1

      What do you use as a wallet? Not a rigid box made of metal and glass, I'll wager.

      I don't, but some do.

      --
      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
    13. Re:Why would you want to? by davydagger · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Durability, thats why.

      Think about it, when you drop you phone, a phone that bounces is going to release the kinetic energy as vibration. the phone that is hard and solid is going to absorb the energy.

      In science class as a kid, you must have done the experment with shattering a frozen rubberband. Similar concept in reverse

    14. Re:Why would you want to? by asmkm22 · · Score: 1

      I see a lot of people who keep their phones in their back pocket, in which case a flexible phone might be nice to have. Aside from that, I think the point is just to make a phone that can withstand different types of stress and open up more shapes beyond a flat slab.

      For example, it seems like have a phone with a slight curve to it (such as the one in TFA) might make it a bit easier to talk with it rested on your shoulder like you could do with old school house phones.

    15. Re:Why would you want to? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lab versions inserted into the market. What more would a geek want? The keen observer will note that Asia is now leading on innovation as well.

    16. Re:Why would you want to? by TubeSteak · · Score: 1

      Basically Korean makers now have flexible screens, but can't (yet) make fully flexible phones, so they're just sort of coming up with random phones to see where the interest lies.

      South Korea and China are huge test beds for new cell phones.
      Half of South Korea's population lives in/around Seoul and China has 4 of the top ten largest cities in the world.
      Considering that everything is manufactured there (and Japan) it makes sense that they're testing out new things in Asia.

      It's basically early alpha editions of what will eventually be fully flexible phones.

      The USA and Europe are usually a generation or more behind in technology &/or features.
      Which is why we're reading about an "alpha edition" that is only sold in South Korea.
      It's also why our wired internet is slower, our wireless internet is slower, and Apple could sell a blockbuster phone that didn't have copy and paste.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    17. Re:Why would you want to? by Solandri · · Score: 1

      Yes it makes it more durable. The more rigid the body, the faster it decelerates when dropped and hits the ground. The faster it decelerates, the greater the acceleration forces. SInce F = ma, high acceleration = high forces on the internal components. Contrary to conventional wisdom, you don't want your phone to be a rigid metal body. They tried that in the 1940s and 1950s with cars, with the result that the cars were surviving the crashes while the passengers inside were turning into paste. You want the most delicate components inside a stiff metal cage, but the cage should be surrounded by flexible "crumple zones" to cushion the impact forces and absorb the impact energy rather than transmit them directly to what's inside.

      The fly in the ointment so far has been that the most delicate component on a phone is the screen, which has to be on the outside, and has to be the full size of the device. So its impossible to house it inside a protective cage (well, some phone cases attempt to do that, with rather ugly results). But if the screen is flexible it's no longer the most delicate component.

    18. Re:Why would you want to? by feral-troll · · Score: 1

      I honestly I think this, like the Samsung Round, is a "shot in the market" to see what people want. Basically Korean makers now have flexible screens, but can't (yet) make fully flexible phones, so they're just sort of coming up with random phones to see where the interest lies.

      It's basically early alpha editions of what will eventually be fully flexible phones. That's my take, anyways, from visiting Korea and seeing this stuff.

      Why would I want a fully flexible phone that can be twisted like a block of rubber? A device like this one, for example, would just annoy me. I can see lots of uses for electronic paper, like wallpapering your apartment with it and changing the scenery on the walls depending on your moods (like they did in Cloud Atlas) but rubber phones? Perhaps if the device was mildly bendable and would adjust to the shape of your butt-cheek like this one does when you stuff it into your back trouser pocket that might be useful. I suppose Samsung could sell some phones to novelty freaks with wrap around displays also annoying, unless perhaps if you use the wrap around part for software buttons or curved/shaped displays (less annoying) but these are hardly a must-have feature. Just about the only really interesting concept prototype of a flexible display device that I have seen so far was a cylindrical e-reader where you could pull out a thin flexible screen and then reel it back into the device. It offered the same reading area as a small tablet but took little more space than a large roll of coins. It looked a bit like this thing. Then I began to wonder what happens when you want to use a ultra flexible electronic paper display like that as a touch-screen interface. Try holding up a thin and flexible piece of cardboard and think about what it would be like to use as a touch screen. Perhaps a device like this could use voice commands (don't have much hope for that after variations in english accents defeated Siri) or eye and gesture tracking instead?

    19. Re:Why would you want to? by aaaaaaargh! · · Score: 1

      It's probably because they have some patents on it that Apple doesn't have.

    20. Re:Why would you want to? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then I began to wonder what happens when you want to use a ultra flexible electronic paper display like that as a touch-screen interface. Try holding up a thin and flexible piece of cardboard and think about what it would be like to use as a touch screen. Perhaps a device like this could use voice commands (don't have much hope for that after variations in english accents defeated Siri) or eye and gesture tracking instead?

      What about old-fashioned buttons? I still don't get what touch screens are supposed to give you on a reading device, other than dirty displays.

    21. Re: Why would you want to? by iamhassi · · Score: 1

      I wouldn't say the US and Europe are behind. Like you said Asia is a test market so they get the good and the bad. Saying Asia is ahead is like running a beta of windows and saying you're a generation ahead of everyone, just because you're running the beta doesn't mean it's a good thing.

      --
      my karma will be here long after I'm gone
    22. Re:Why would you want to? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Asia

      innovation

      Chose one.

    23. Re:Why would you want to? by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      And if can harness that power, we can charge our phones by dropping them!

      "Why yes. I did drop my phone on purpose."

    24. Re:Why would you want to? by MBGMorden · · Score: 1

      I'm with you there. It particularly seems odd considering that one of the primary adjectives used to describe a device of low quality is "flimsy".

      Flexing in most construction implies weakness/lack of durability (whether or not it does here is somewhat irrelevant - the human mind is largely set to think of flexing as bad). Just seems like a strange "feature" to add.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    25. Re:Why would you want to? by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

      The last few phones my son had to replace where due to cracked screens... He will probably jump on a flexible screen that doesn't shatter when dropped.

    26. Re:Why would you want to? by MBGMorden · · Score: 1

      No, but a wallet is significantly thicker. It also has to fold in order to reduce money to a more pocketable size(unless we redesign our paper bills to be the size of credit cards - which actually may be a good idea).

      If my wallet were the size of a cell phone and didn't fold I'd have no problems with a rigid one - heck I'd probably prefer it. Things get pretty beat up in there as it is.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    27. Re:Why would you want to? by disposable60 · · Score: 1

      Buuut, if he jumps on it ....

      / sorry

      --
      You're looking for quotes? See my journal.
    28. Re:Why would you want to? by steelfood · · Score: 1

      Presumably so that if you drop something heavy onto the screen itself, it'd be less likely to crack under the sudden load.

      I don't know if anyone really knows what to do with this technology yet. It's not thin nor flexible enough for shrinking the size of the device while keeping the same maximum screen size. The supporting electronics haven't been miniaturized to that point either.

      It does make some kind of wristband screen possible, but that form factor is clunky from a UI perspective if the device is smaller than a full arm brace.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    29. Re:Why would you want to? by Urza9814 · · Score: 0

      Other than that, it's a marketing gimmick.

      Two words: Impact resistance.

      I'd say the *majority* of smartphones I see have cracked glass. All it takes is one unfortunate drop. And not from great height. Happened to mine when it slid out of my pocket as I was sitting down...unfortunately above a hard tile floor.

      Although I don't think I'd want a curved phone...just drop-proof "glass". I don't think there's any actual glass that's flexible, so this would probably be using a plastic screen...so I'd only buy it if it a good enough plastic too. No point in trading spiderweb cracks for scratches...and I don't want my fingers sticking to the screen when I try to swipe...but yeah, flex seems awesome. I had the same flip phone for eight years. I want a smartphone with that kind of longevity.

    30. Re:Why would you want to? by msauve · · Score: 1

      Flexibility and shock resistance are two different things. Think of a piece of taffy - you can bend it slowly, but smack it against a table and it breaks into pieces.

      The real solution, though, is for your friends to take better care of their shit.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    31. Re:Why would you want to? by Urza9814 · · Score: 1

      What about a flexible screen that can become rigid on-demand? Unroll your scroll e-reader, and when it opens fully it snaps open and holds its position...then you press a button and it rolls right back up. Could do that with some kind of pneumatic bladders or electromagnets. Or just simple mechanics -- build a frame as hinged rigid sections that open to only 180 degrees..so it won't bend when you tap on it, because it can only bend towards you. Add some magnets to the hinges if you don't want it flapping forward. Could theoretically do that one with flat screens, but a flexible one certainly makes it far easier. Wouldn't quite "roll" so much as "fold into a square/pentagon/rough approximation of a spiral" but it serves the same purpose.

      What about an inflatable "Jumbotron"? Bouncy castles with LCD screens! Why? Because we can damnit! :)

    32. Re:Why would you want to? by Urza9814 · · Score: 1

      The fly in the ointment so far has been that the most delicate component on a phone is the screen, which has to be on the outside, and has to be the full size of the device. So its impossible to house it inside a protective cage (well, some phone cases attempt to do that, with rather ugly results). But if the screen is flexible it's no longer the most delicate component.

      I've never once seen a broken *screen* -- not on a smartphone at least. What I see constantly (more often than not it seems!) is broken *glass*. If this is flexible and still feels like glass, I'd buy it in a second. If it's just crap cheap plastic...then probably not.

      Of course, if you replaced the glass on a normal smartphone with something more flexible but kept the rigid screen you probably would see more broken screens....

    33. Re:Why would you want to? by Urza9814 · · Score: 1

      I'm with you there. It particularly seems odd considering that one of the primary adjectives used to describe a device of low quality is "flimsy".

      Why is that odd? Flimsy means thin and poor quality. Can't find a single definition that uses 'flexible' or any of its synonymns. So I'm not sure how that's related...

      To me, a 'flimsy house' is one that's gonna collapse with a gust of wind. I'd expect something built of corrugated aluminum. A 'flexible house' though is one designed to withstand earthquakes and would be damn near indestructible.

      I actually can't think of a single time I've heard 'flexible' considered to be a bad thing. I mean yeah nobody is gonna buy a phone that bends like it's made of rubber, but that's not at all what this is.

    34. Re:Why would you want to? by Valdrax · · Score: 1

      What do you use as a wallet? Not a rigid box made of metal and glass, I'll wager.

      I've never understood how people can sit comfortably with even a normal wallet in their back pocket. I wouldn't keep my phone in a back pocket either.

      --
      If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
    35. Re:Why would you want to? by neoritter · · Score: 1

      Internet speeds in the US are not slower, they're some of the best in the world. The problem is that to get those higher bandwidth speeds you have to pay an arm and a leg.

    36. Re:Why would you want to? by Urza9814 · · Score: 1

      That just shows that smacking it against the table imparts more force than bending it slowly. If you freeze it it loses flexibility and will shatter with the same force that would just bend it previously. F=ma. If it's flexible, you get a smaller a on impact.

      And yeah, in a perfect world, nobody would ever drop or damage anything. But shit happens.

    37. Re:Why would you want to? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Welcome to the 21st century, where we have strong and durable materials that can bend.

      Seriously? Is this what slashdot has become? A bunch of neo-Luddites dreaming up complaints about technological progress?

  2. All phones can be flexed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    This one just can be flexed more than once.

    1. Re:All phones can be flexed by quenda · · Score: 4, Funny

      But will it blend?

    2. Re:All phones can be flexed by istartedi · · Score: 1

      Just like all diodes are light emitting.

      --
      For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    3. Re:All phones can be flexed by danceswithtrees · · Score: 1

      This one just can be flexed more than once-- and still function.

  3. Battery by rve · · Score: 1

    How did they make the battery flexible? It's a little light on the details.

    1. Re:Battery by leftover · · Score: 1

      Rectilinear "pouch" type lithium-polymer batteries are mostly flexible. It's the glass in the display that isn't. Finding another oxygen barrier that flexes is the real breakthrough.

      --
      Bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated.
    2. Re:Battery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      How did they make the battery flexible? It's a little light on the details.

      Exactly. Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine. I don't even recall there being a tape or video. It was probably in one of my drunken stupors, probably about a year ago.

    3. Re:Battery by Svartormr · · Score: 1

      Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine. I don't even recall there being a tape or video. It was probably in one of my drunken stupors, probably about a year ago.

      Rob Ford, is that you?

    4. Re:Battery by citizenr · · Score: 1

      Same way they made Nike fuel bands flexible.

      --
      Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
    5. Re:Battery by Urza9814 · · Score: 1

      There's a small part of the band that doesn't flex, and the batteries (and all the other electronics) are in there. That works fine, because the battery is much smaller than the device. It's basically like a wristwatch. Sure, the band bends, but the electronics don't.

      For a smartphone the battery is usually around a quarter of the size of the entire device. So that trick doesn't work so well. But this phone is hardly an armband. It flexes slightly, it doesn't wrap, so you wouldn't need much flex in the batteries.

  4. It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words! by xevioso · · Score: 4, Funny

    Soon you will pull out a small device, the same size as an iphone, but with two tubes at either end. And on a whim, you will unroll these tubes, revealing a large horizontal screen, where you can read your internets!

    BEHOLD!!! Cometh soon the iSCROLL! For all your iPapyrus needs!

    1. Re:It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny, but not true for a while. This screen can't be bent nearly that far, nor the rest of the electronic components. However, there are materials in labs that could hypothetically do exactly that. By the time they get around to the market though maybe we'll all just have thought controlled brain implants anyway.

    2. Re:It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words! by QuasiSteve · · Score: 2

      You mean the Earth: Final Conflict communicator. We're already there - the problem is with yield (which makes the displays expensive) and longevity (entire rows/columns dropping out), though.

    3. Re:It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words! by Qzukk · · Score: 1

      And yet such a design would fix the issue of trying to see anything useful on these itty bitty little screens. (Oh look, I can read websites either three words per line or three lines per screen!)

      In my head though, I'm imagining it sort of like a lint roller, where you hold the handle, and unroll as much screen as you need to use. My imagination can't stop it from looking like anything other than a cheap toy, though.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    4. Re:It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Goose step much? Suck dick much? Eat the shit out of other men's assholes much?

    5. Re:It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words! by xevioso · · Score: 1

      The question Apple and others needs to figure out with components that do become flexible and foldable is specifically what such a device would look like. Would you unfold such a device? Unroll it? Do both? How would you take a rectangular object that sits in your pocket and make it larger every single time without fail?

      The only answer is the iSCROLL!!! Coming soon to an Apple store near you!!!!!

    6. Re:It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Apple is going to wait for a few other companies to release it first before they invent it.

    7. Re:It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Valid questions , but sure you can't read it while driving (which i consider a feature ).
      So ye iWelcome this development.

    8. Re:It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words! by xevioso · · Score: 1

      Well, they aren't marketing their own flexible phone at the moment, possibly to see how they are received by people. But soon the market will be saturated with iScrolls.

    9. Re:It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      iScroll? Try iRoll... useless if you don't have a stylus to keep it propped open... :-P

    10. Re:It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Much much?

    11. Re:It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words! by rolfwind · · Score: 1

      Easier, you have the screen wrap around to the back, via the side, and the back half deactivated when as a phone. The phone splits open like a horizontal flip phone, except both surfaces are flush and hinges designed to elongate the entire design so the screen is a little stretched (minimizes the fold from previous form). One side of the phone contains the circuitry, logic board, other side the battery and what not.

    12. Re:It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words! by TheLink · · Score: 1

      Actually if wearable computer tech becomes good enough you wouldn't need that many physically large screens, foldable or not.

      You'd have physically small screens that look large to the user.

      And to me, that's the way to go. Decent user interfaces (e.g, brain computer interfaces or gestures or similar[1]) might be useful so you don't have to always sound like you belong in a mental asylum.

      [1] the wearable computer can use its cameras to see your gestures. If it's not clever enough yet you could wear special rings to make things easier for the computer.

      --
    13. Re:It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right! Apple never comes out with anything first. Just like what they did with the gorilla glass or retina display.

    14. Re:It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words! by Solandri · · Score: 1

      You jest, but I really think that's the direction mobile computing is going to go. If you open up a modern tablet, the "computer" part of it is a thin PCB little wider than a stick of gum. The battery can be molded to fit whatever shape you want. The only reason tablets are the bulky slate shape (which has tremendously excessive surface area for the volume of components) is because of the screen. As technology progresses, the computer bits are going to continue to get smaller, and both battery capacity will increase while required capacity will decrease as power efficiency improves. The screen is more and more going to become the millstone around the neck of these devices.

      If you could roll up or fold the screen, you could substantially shrink the size of the device when it's not in use. A 10" tablet could roll into something about the size of a fat pen. There's some engineering work which needs to be done to make a collapsible frame to hold the screen flat when unrolled, but I think the tradeoff is going to be worth it.

    15. Re: It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words! by BeaverCleaver · · Score: 2

      Gorilla glass, yes. But isn't the "retina" display just a high-resolution screen? Like, the obvious next step in the steady increase in resolution of mobile phone screens that had been going on for a decade?

      --
      sustainable living
  5. Curved display by LoudMusic · · Score: 2

    I actually like the idea of a curved display. I don't fully understand the point of flexible - especially in this instance where it has to be forced so hard.

    --
    No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
    1. Re:Curved display by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Forget curved. A retractable display is the feature that we need. This is just a stop-gap for such technology.

      It would be cool to make a folding paper fan like phone. Stylish and functional. Changeable patterns and maybe a transparent mode which light flows through it saving on battery life.

  6. fuck engaget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    wtf man srsly is this 1998? fucking video noob wont load arrrrgh

    i thought CDN's fixed the fucking slashdot effect

  7. WTF? by edxwelch · · Score: 1

    That's a pretty big disappointment. We were led to believe that it would flex 180Â like in this picture: http://tech.infaround.com/2013/04/25/lg-to-unveil-new-smartphone-with-flexible-oled-display-later-this-year/

  8. make it flex AND waterproof by themushroom · · Score: 1

    This would cover the two big reasons why a phone needs to be replaced, the third being lost/stolen.

    Add a tracking system so the phone can be retrieved and you can rule the world.

    --
    Laughter is the Spackle of the Soul.
    1. Re:make it flex AND waterproof by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Oh, great, just what the world needs, the ability for everyone to post to Twitter, Facebook,Youtube etc from the bottom of the pools, including your favorite skinny dipping sites.

  9. Flexible screens - scratch city by ravenscar · · Score: 1

    If you are going to have a flexible screen one would think you wouldn't use glass to cover it. You would need a material that also flexes. If it flexes it isn't going to be very hard and is likely to accumulate scratches like the old-school plastic screens. Not to say the tech is useless; it just seems to have limited applications in today's standard rectangle phones. Perhaps the tech will evolve enough to inspire a new phone design. Until then, meh.

    1. Re:Flexible screens - scratch city by sshir · · Score: 1

      Actually, thin sheets of gorilla glass are fairly flexible.

  10. oh, the potential! by themushroom · · Score: 1

    including your favorite skinny dipping sites.

    I don't see a problem with Instagram, Twitpic, Facebook, and Flickr updates from people skinnydipping.

    --
    Laughter is the Spackle of the Soul.
    1. Re:oh, the potential! by Neil+Boekend · · Score: 1

      That depends on whether their mass and sex corresponds to your personal preference.

      --
      Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
    2. Re:oh, the potential! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe Instagram can come up with an automatic BMI detection for this. Then you can simply filter based on BMI (and please don't forget the minimum limit. Skeletons are not sexy.)

  11. More like Wiggle . . . by e_armadillo · · Score: 1

    What was that a 5 degree bend?

  12. Lame by Orleron · · Score: 1

    Sorry but that's not flexible. If I can't fold it into quarters and stick it in my pocket, don't tell me it is.

    1. Re:Lame by geekoid · · Score: 1

      You have a weird definition of flexible.

      It flexes from a curve to flat.
      That didn't days folding, or origami phone.
      http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flex

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  13. Mod parent up please ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Forget curved. A retractable display is the feature that we need. This is just a stop-gap for such technology.

    Where are the mod points when I need 'em ?

  14. I remember having a bendable phone by TsuruchiBrian · · Score: 5, Funny

    From like 2004 to 2011 I had a phone that I had to bend in half to answer.

  15. Nokia 8110 by Richy_T · · Score: 1

    The Nokia 8110 (Banana phone) was very popular in its time. It has always surprised me that it's a design that hasn't been revisited. Perhaps this is its time.

  16. We are seeing an evolutionary convergence by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 1

    Between phones and sex toys.

    1. Re:We are seeing an evolutionary convergence by Neil+Boekend · · Score: 1

      They already both vibrate.

      --
      Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
  17. Inflatable by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm waiting for inflatable screens.

    Like a regular to small size phone but for those times you need something bigger than 5" it has a little valve you can blow into when which will inflate a screen that is bigger than a tablet. When you are done, just squish the air out and stick it back in your pocket.

    --
    When information is power, privacy is freedom.
  18. No, no, no by onyxruby · · Score: 1

    You could be phones for years and years. The problem was that they didn't bend back. The ability to bend back, that's what's important. That and the ability to bend that first time without breaking....

  19. It may bend... by JonEdgecombe · · Score: 1

    but will it blend? I'll show myself out now.

  20. Undo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Undo mod

  21. I have bent many of my phones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But so far I have only been able to do that once per phone.

  22. Horizontal Bend by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "instead of the Round's horizontal bend, which many thought was the 'wrong way'"

    I prefer the "horizontal bend" of the Samsung Round. It better conforms to the curves of my leg and seems like it would fit better in my pocket. I don't want a second bulge in my pants.

  23. i think i will wait for the next improvement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ill wait until they make one that prevents you from dropping it into the toilet
    they have the color change thing to invalidate your warranty but dont make them water proof..,.

    1. Re:i think i will wait for the next improvement by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

      you and my brother.... get a blue-tooth "Hands free to pee"

  24. Definition of Flex by danknight48 · · Score: 1

    Completely abused here.
    No offence, but a phone that can "flex" 1/2mm by using extreme force is not a breakthrough. Its on the side of pointless.

    If we are using LG's definition of "flex", my motherboard does it better, not to mention, my monitor is constantly flexing by 0.01mm on its own.