Samsung is about to unveil its radical ‘folding’ phone

Multiple rumours suggest that the device – which folds in two, like a notebook – could be unveiled at the IFA technology show in Berlin in autumn this year, just before Apple unveils iPhone 8.

The phone has already been shown off to people behind closed doors at Mobile World Congress, according to Boy Genius Report.

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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.

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.

Writer: Rob Waugh for Metro.co.uk