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LG Will Launch a Phone With a Second Screen Attachment (cnet.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNET: LG's next smartphone may have you seeing double. And no, it's not because of a foldable display. The company will launch a smartphone, whose name hasn't been finalized, that will have an option for a second-screen attachment, according to a person familiar with the situation. The attachment, which the person describes as a sort of case with a screen, could potentially double the total screen size of the device. It's one of multiple phones launching at the Mobile World Congress trade show next month, the person said. While the company is mulling the G8 name, it's unclear whether the multiple-screen phone will carry the name of its flagship line. There was some confusion over LG launching a foldable smartphone thanks to a report by Korean-language outlet Naver. But this phone won't fold.

44 comments

  1. Any reason flip phones aren't coming back? by PingSpike · · Score: 2

    There seems to be this weird push for foldable displays lately...I get the idea I suppose, it can be tablet big sometimes. But it all looks so janky I don't see how it can be made into a robust product.

    Why haven't they just added a second flip out screen (sort of like a nintendo ds, or an old flip phone with a screen taking place of the dialpad) Even if it only displayed the pop up keyboard most of the time it seems like it would improve usability of the phone, naturally protect both screens while closed and not increase pocket size much.

    Are there products like this?

    1. Re:Any reason flip phones aren't coming back? by treymichaelcook · · Score: 2

      Flipout smartphones are being made - look up the Samsung W2019 for a recent one. For some reason they only sell them in China & a couple other parts of eastern Asian; you would have to custom import one if you lived elsewhere.

    2. Re: Any reason flip phones aren't coming back? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That I have no idea. Sounds delightful

    3. Re:Any reason flip phones aren't coming back? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just the marketing drones throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks basically. Or the million monkeys / million typewriters paradigm.

      A more logical path is to increase the efficiency of the interfaces we use on mobile devices. QWERTY works on a keyboard, but it's impractical on a phone. Yet it's been the standard since smartphones came about. Wouldn't need that second screen if someone tried something else. I remember back in the days of Palm devices you had a small touchpad where you basically "wrote" the individual letters with a stylus. Makes me think the solution is something akin to the size of fingerprint scanner on a phone using gestural input protocol. Maybe something with subtle movements rather than large swipes and strokes. It would have to be something standardized and everyone would need to refrain from adding their own bells and whistles to it. Then you have the whole phone screen freed up for everything else.

    4. Re:Any reason flip phones aren't coming back? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Flipout smartphones are being made - look up the Samsung W2019 for a recent one. For some reason they only sell them in China & a couple other parts of eastern Asian; you would have to custom import one if you lived elsewhere.

      They are also talking about bringing out a new flip phone RAZR.

    5. Re:Any reason flip phones aren't coming back? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've seen a lot of ordinary people put their phones in their back pocket, and then they sit and damage their phone. So I don't think anyone really cares about foldable phones but it is a reaction to the way people actually use their phones and a design with a curve or that was bendable would be more resistant to damage.

    6. Re:Any reason flip phones aren't coming back? by Gilgaron · · Score: 1

      I think one reason the sales of smart phones have flattened is that they aren't conspicuous displays of wealth anymore, everybody has a little black rectangle. These flip phones would look visually distinct, as how TV and movies still use flip phones often since it is easier for the audience to tell that the phone is being used by the character. Not exactly a risk free move, but I can see the appeal of the idea of making a phone back into a conspicuous luxury item.

    7. Re:Any reason flip phones aren't coming back? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It would have to be something standardized and everyone would need to refrain from adding their own bells and whistles to it.

      So it can't possibly exist in a real marketplace then.

    8. Re:Any reason flip phones aren't coming back? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You were trying to joke or be sarcastic, but I believe Windows ARM laptops are about to enable exactly that.

  2. It's called a "laptop" by DogDude · · Score: 2

    If you need a phone with two screens, isn't it easier and cheaper and more functional and more private to just use a laptop/notebook?

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
    1. Re:It's called a "laptop" by wed128 · · Score: 2

      I'd love a laptop that fits in my pocket, but has a full size screen and keyboard somehow. Maybe i need bigger pockets.

    2. Re:It's called a "laptop" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. Just like when I want some phat booty I go to pound town on creimer's asshole.

    3. Re:It's called a "laptop" by laffer1 · · Score: 1

      More like a tablet. Crappy mobile OS + bigger screen.

    4. Re:It's called a "laptop" by tepples · · Score: 1

      If you depend on using mobile-only applications, such as Venmo, the only "laptop/notebook" that can download those from Google Play Store is a Chromebook.

  3. Folding screens = pointless? by sjbe · · Score: 1

    I saw the foldable screen device they were showing recently. My thought was neat proof of concept but there isn't a way in hell I would buy the thing. Thoroughly impractical form factor even if the device happened to work great otherwise. Too big while folded (large air gap) and too fragile to put in a pocket folded which seems to defeat the entire purpose of a phone. It's not really clear to me who would buy the thing or why other than as a toy to play with.

    That said I think a device with a cleverly available second display on the back or a rigid display that can rotate into view on the front side has the potential to be really useful if the design is well done. The ZTE Nubia seems to be a promising idea for how to go about it.

    1. Re: Folding screens = pointless? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You sure use a lot of funny words there mate. How will the rest of us keep up?

    2. Re:Folding screens = pointless? by Red_Forman · · Score: 1

      How can a display in the front and the back be useful? You can't see both of them at once. That's the stupidest idea I've ever seen. What a bunch of dumbasses.

    3. Re:Folding screens = pointless? by Kokuyo · · Score: 1

      You don't need a selfie camera anymore and can get a screen to body ratio of almost 100%.
      Also the one Linus found at CES seems to be pretty good at providing two independent desktops. It seems the back screen can also be divided into zones and used as a touch sensitive input device. For example you could define some game buttons there you could reach with your index fingers.

      Two screens front and back could prove surprisingly useful IMO.

      Me, I just hope the Cosmo Communicator won't be a dud....

    4. Re:Folding screens = pointless? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The back screen can still register inputs while the screen is off, it's OLED so it uses nearly no power when not being looked at, it can run two different apps at the same time, It also gets rid of the front notch, and it doesn't require apps be programed with the device in mind. Oh, and the back display turns your negative vibes into something useful.

  4. How about something useful... by Bradmont · · Score: 2

    Like a keyboard attachment...

  5. Who cares, they won't support it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My LG phone received 1 security update in 1 year. In my opinion you should not buy a phone from a company with a track record of poor support.

    1. Re:Who cares, they won't support it by pgmrdlm · · Score: 1

      That sounds more like your carrier then the phone itself. I have an LG v35 and already have received an update for the OS. I previously had the V10, and defiantly had more then one update in a year. But, due to this being AT&T. They were stretched out. Again, the carrier being the bottle neck. Not the phone itself

      --
      Anonymous comments are as pathetic as the anonymous "sources" that contaminate gutless journalism from the New York Time
    2. Re:Who cares, they won't support it by tepples · · Score: 1

      A factory-unlocked phone can receive updates over Wi-Fi without interference from any carrier. But for some brands, even a factory-unlocked phone is no guarantee of continuing security updates.

    3. Re:Who cares, they won't support it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I previously had the V10, and defiantly had more then one update in a year.

      That's *definitely* good news for those that owned a V10!
      OR *defiantly*, who the heck cares...

  6. "innovation" by Tomahawk · · Score: 1

    'cos there isn't really much else you can do with a rectangular slab of glass to differentiate yourself from everyone else, so lets do some crazy stuff that nobody really asked for...

    Just give me a 6" 16:9 dead-flat screen. I don't need (or want) anything fancy, or curvy, or "3D"/"2.5D". Make the innards good -- a good processor, a good battery, lots of memory, lots of storage. Innovate there and give me the best you can give me. But stop with this other craziness...

    1. Re:"innovation" by Daralantan · · Score: 1

      Make the innards good -- a good processor, a good battery, lots of memory, lots of storage. Innovate there and give me the best you can give me. But stop with this other craziness...

      And instead you will now be given a glove. A Power Glove!

    2. Re:"innovation" by Tomahawk · · Score: 1

      *click*

    3. Re: "innovation" by houghi · · Score: 1

      I remember when people said they did not need HD, or even color tv. I also remember when people thought the walkman was anti-social and no need for it. Same for portable phones.

      The fact that they where right each and every time, here we are. Want us an impotant thing and drives out need often.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  7. Tri fold phone! by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1
    Very good idea, But why stop with bifold?

    Just a trifold case, open it out, one opens to form a screen, the main phone changes to a full Qwerty keyboard touch screen, and the the third fold forms a track pad/mouse.

    Then in a few iterations, as the size of the screen grows inevitably, to say 10 inches diagonal, the touchscreen keyboard and the track pad can be merged into for form a bifold, ditch the touch screen keyboard to save cost and profit .... baby ...!

    If you ask someone to hold a lap top to their ear, they would balk. But sneak up to them this way, yeah.,they will do this.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re: Tri fold phone! by houghi · · Score: 1

      Why stop there? Have a origami phone. Folded it looks like a phone. Unfolded and you have a screen as large as a sheet of paper.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  8. Laptop you can make cellphone calls on by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

    Memo to cellphone and tablet manufacturers: Why not just cut to the chase and make a laptop computer you can make telephone calls on? That's the direction you all seem to be going anyway, so just do it already. </sarcasm>

    1. Re:Laptop you can make cellphone calls on by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      CELL CO. CEO: "We need a phone that can double as a laptop"
      CELL ENGINEER: "No problem. Just put USB-C port in and a dock and the users can plug in all their stuff."
      CELL CO. CEO: "Can we make it so they need to buy all their stuff from us, like Apple? So we can lock them in?"
      CELL ENGINEER: (Hesitating) "I... I guess we could do that, but it would piss off the users."
      CELL CO. CEO: "OOO! Can we make it so users need to buy a special cable. OH! What if they had to buy extra parts to add to the cell phone to make it work."
      CELL ENGINEER: (Brightly) "You know what? I just checked and the technology isn't there yet. It just can't be done."
      CELL CO. CEO: (discouraged) "Are you sure?"
      CELL ENGINEER: "Has Apple done it yet?"

  9. omg wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dual Screens, what a novel idea! Totally hasn't been around since 2004 in a certain device. Next you'll tell me they're gonna put touch sensitivity on them, imagine that!

  10. Lack of imagination by sjbe · · Score: 1

    How can a display in the front and the back be useful?

    Follow the link and check it out. It's actually a pretty cool idea. They can be different sizes so you can have functions (like a physical keyboard or camera) on one side with a smaller screen and a screen the full size of the device on the other when those aren't needed. More immediately you can just have a camera on one side of the device instead of the clumsy front and back setup two camera setup we have now with smartphones. This allows things like me pointing my camera at my wife/daughter during a Facetime call and both them and both the person in front of and behind the smartphone being able to see the person we are talking to.

    You can't see both of them at once.

    Wow, genius! Nobody thought of that before you said it. Glad you pointed that out to everyone.

    I might suggest there may be some use cases you overlooked in your knee-jerk reaction...

    That's the stupidest idea I've ever seen. What a bunch of dumbasses.

    Really? THAT is the dumbest idea you've ever seen? Then you have led a blessed life my friend.

  11. QWERTY Slider by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If someone made an up to date QWERTY slider phone now, I would definitely buy it.
    Slabs are fine, but if you need to do some real work, then an onscreen keyboard taking up half the screen is really frustrating.
    Moto Milestone 1 was my last one... such a great little phone.

    1. Re: QWERTY Slider by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use an external Bluetooth keyboard with mine that's small enough to carry with me, but is still big enough to be comfortable to use.

        I don't miss sliders and I've had a couple earlier Android phones that had the sliding keyboard. They usually would get worn out even though I took good care of them. One slider (which was an LG) had the connecting cable between the KB and the rest of the phone fail, and this caused the whole phone to become useless (the display failed because this interconnect carried the video and digitizer signals, the 'smarts' were in the keyboard half)

        If I need to type more than a few words, I'll sit down and bust out the BT keyboard. Better than than have moving parts and another point of failure.

  12. Nobody asked for this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why are phone manufacturers pushing these multi-display devices when nobody asked for them? I hope LG goes bankrupt pushing this initiative. Manufacturers don't listen to anything their customers say. We want phones with large, self-serviceable batteries, an SD card slot, and regular OTA updates! And we don't care how thin the device is!

  13. One for each eyeball ? by Alain+Williams · · Score: 2

    I can't see why else you would want this.

  14. Sounds reasonable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The reason other dual screen phones didn't do so well was due to the fact it added bulk that the user was stuck with whether he/she wanted it at the time or not.

      At least now you have a phone with a normal form factor that you can attach an extra display to when you need the extra workspace.

  15. Yawn by nightfire-unique · · Score: 1

    For fuck sakes.

    Can some manufacturer PLEASE make a flagship phone with a removable battery?

    Enough with the fucking gimmicks. Seriously.

    --
    A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
    1. Re:Yawn by dargaud · · Score: 1

      There are plenty of good cheap phones with removable battery, SD card slot, 2 SIMs, FM radio and headphone jack. Mine is a Wiko View 32, it's excellent, cheap and I bought it for several family members because of it. 140€/$.

      --
      Non-Linux Penguins ?
  16. Confusing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    While all the Korean based websites say it'd be a foldable phone with dual screen and LG tries to make it seamless as possible, CNET says it is not a foldable phone with optional second display? I'd rather trust Korean websites as LG is a Korean company. Duh.