Samsung Working on Flexible Phone with Less Battery Use

Samsung has been working on a flexible phone screen that bends and is nearly unbreakable while still being lightweight. What makes it even better is that it uses less battery power, which is one of the biggest complaints for any mobile device user.

The screens are supposed to be ready for release in the early half of 2013 and are made from organic light-emitting diodes. This new design is being seen as Samsung’s way of staying competitive in a continually changing environment. The competition has been on creating higher resolution displays but flexible screens with less battery use would put Samsung in another category altogether.

The Issues with Flexible Screens

There is concern that the materials used to create these screens could expand and contract at different rates when they heat up or cool down, which could cause breaking or damage. There is also the issue with encapsulating the materials in the OLEDs because they degrade when they are exposed to air. Flexible encapsulation poses more issues than when working with glass.

Samsung is not the first company to attempt to create a flexible screen. In fact, Sony demonstrated one back in 2010 and even Samsung had one to show last year. Manufacturing issues keep the companies from progressing. Besides a flexible screen, you will have to get flexible circuit boards and other components.

It often takes several years to move new technology along to the point where it’s ready to show to the customer. Then you have to figure a way to get it mass produced, so even if Samsung does have something to show in 2013, customers probably won’t get to enjoy the benefits for a few years yet. However, it will still be fun to see how it works.

[Images via techgage & gggadgets]