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

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."

Comments

Why would you want to?

[Valdrax]

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.)

Re:Why would you want to?

[iONiUM]

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.

Re:Why would you want to?

[davydagger]

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

All phones can be flexed

[Anonymous Coward]

This one just can be flexed more than once.

Re:All phones can be flexed

[quenda]

But will it blend?

It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words!

[xevioso]

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!

Re:It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words!

[QuasiSteve]

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.

Re: It's on it's way from Apple, mark my words!

[BeaverCleaver]

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?

Curved display

[LoudMusic]

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.

Re:Battery

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

I remember having a bendable phone

[TsuruchiBrian]

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

Inflatable

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

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.