This is a major technological coup which no one expected.
An unknown hardware manufacturing firm has launched world’s 1st foldable smartphone before tech biggies such as Samsung, LG and Huawei, who are also about to launch their own foldable smartphones.
Which is this company, and how does this work? Keep reading to find out more!
World’s 1st Foldable Smartphone: This Is How It Works!
Royole, a relatively unknown hardware manufacturing company has just launched World’s 1st foldable smartphone, called FlexPai.
This tablet-sized gadget can be bent and packed into a size of a small paperback, using Flexible Display Technology.
Based on the molding, and the size of the screen, the OS can automatically change its avatar due to its responsive properties.
Here is the video of how it works:
As per the details shared on their website, “FlexPai is the first commercial foldable smartphone with fully flexible display a combination of mobile phone and tablet, with Royole’s 2nd Generation, ultrathin fully flexible display.”
Powered by Snapdragon 8-series chipset, the launch price of this unique foldable smartphone has been estimated as ¥8,999 (around $1,290 or Rs 95,000) (6GB variant)
But, Has Royole Cracked The Code?
For several years, we have been waiting for the ultimate foldable smartphone, even as hundreds of prototypes and tests have been shared in the past.
Royole, a company founded by Stanford engineering graduates (as per their Wikipedia page) is an expert into creating ‘next-generation human-machine interface technologies’, and claims to have developed ‘world’s thinnest (0.01 mm) full-color flexible display in 2014’.
However, based on the video we saw, there is a laggard when the screen is folded, and the OS changes into form. Besides, once folded, the whole gadget becomes bulky and seems impractical to carry in your pocket.
The Verge says, “The software also appears to get confused when the phone’s screen is bent, with the display flashing a couple of times before picking an orientation.”
What’s Next With Foldable Smartphones?
Three major smartphone companies are about to launch their own versions of foldable smartphones, and among these, Samsung is expected to be the first.
LG and Huawei are other major brands which can launch their own foldable gadgets very soon.
Samsung’s foldable smartphone, rumored to be called Galaxy X has been in the news for quite some time. Next week, Samsung will reveal how it actually works, and maybe in 2019, this will be commercially launched as well.
LG has already patented a design of such a foldable smartphone, and researchers must be developing it right now, even as you read this blog. It has been described as a “mobile phone with a flexible display which can be folded in half.” Its launch can happen during CES 2019, as per some reports.
Meanwhile, Huawei has declared that they are working on a 5G phone, which will fold as well. During the launch of Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro, Huawei CEO Richard Yu confirmed this.
We will keep you updated, as more details come in.