Foldable phones are coming

[editor]

Ok, I’m convinced - I’ll be getting one right after I’ve paid for my GPS watch that runs off body heat.

Not quite seeing the link there, but that quote may come back to bite you.

Oh and here's something new for you to dismiss:

5 reasons you need a foldable smartphone | TechRadar
Foldable Smartphones: Release Dates, Prices, Specs and Rumors

 

[8ball]

Not quite seeing the link there, but that quote may come back to bite you.

Oh and here's something new for you to dismiss:

5 reasons you need a foldable smartphone | TechRadar
Foldable Smartphones: Release Dates, Prices, Specs and Rumors

5 reasons I *need* a foldable smartphone.
Oh dear, you are a card.

I do like the flexible screen on the first one, though. Looks like they’ve found a solution to the “rippling” problem.

 

[cheesethief]

It's gimmicky overpriced junk aimed at hipster tech-bro gentrifier scumbags in California and it will flop, metaphorically as well as literally. £10 to the server fund says this foldy phone shit will a curiosity in three years.

I respect your scathing contempt for foldable phones, if you're going to hate something, do it with gusto. But I'm equally a tad perplexed at the strength of your derision. It's not like anyone's going to put a gun to your head & demand you invest in an impractical, exorbitantly priced floppy phone. I'll wager that good, old-fashioned non-foldable phones will be around for many years to come.

Personally I'm excited by the technology, but extremely sceptical of the practicality. But who knows what the future holds. I'd rather see innovators coming out with interesting stuff like this than yet another excruciatingly expensive phone that's no different to its predecessor beyond being a bit bigger & sporting an ugly notch...

 

[editor]

It's a book!

• Cover Display
  • Resolution: 840×1960
  • Screen density: 420dpi
  • Smallest screen width: 320dp
  • Screen size: normal
• Main Display
  • Resolution: 1536×2152
  • Screen density: 420dpi
  • Smallest screen width: 585dp
  • Screen size: large

Samsung's Foldable Smartphone Gets Teased Before Samsung Unpacked

 

[editor]

 

[8ball]

Not sure that 6 foot high 3-screen jobbie will fit in my pocket.

 

[editor]

Not sure that 6 foot high 3-screen jobbie will fit in my pocket.

Folds up to the size of a postage stamp. Fact.

 

[8ball]

Folds up to the size of a postage stamp. Fact.

 

[editor]

So we'll get to see what v1 looks like on the 20th:

The future of mobile will unfold on February 20, 2019. #SamsungEventpic.twitter.com/MHvwrt7Rf4

— Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) February 11, 2019

 

[cybershot]

Yep, I saw that advert yesterday in the cinema and was surprised to see the foldable phone featured on it, I was wondering if the advert was even meant to be released yet, but clearly it is. Forgot all about it by the time I'd come out the cinema mind, which proves how pointless ads at the cinema are.

 

[cheesethief]

Yep, I saw that advert yesterday in the cinema and was surprised to see the foldable phone featured on it, I was wondering if the advert was even meant to be released yet, but clearly it is. Forgot all about it by the time I'd come out the cinema mind, which proves how pointless ads at the cinema are.

AFAIC the only cinema ads should be ultra low budget ads for a curry house round the corner. Optionally followed by Morecambe & Wise singing "give me sunshine" for a charity appeal.

 

[skyscraper101]

Folding phones are the obvious next step in phone evolution. There's nothing else exciting happening in the handset world.

 

[8ball]

Folding phones are the obvious next step in phone evolution. There's nothing else exciting happening in the handset world.

Bit of a sequitur fail, no?

 

[NoXion]

Folding phones are the obvious next step in phone evolution. There's nothing else exciting happening in the handset world.

The only obvious thing about folding phones is how rubbish they are with today's tech. If anything that only confirms my suspicion that they're running out of ideas.

 

[Nivag]

Motorola Razr 2019
https://www.t3.com/feature/motorola-razr-release-date-price-specs

 

[cheesethief]

The only obvious thing about folding phones is how rubbish they are with today's tech. If anything that only confirms my suspicion that they're running out of ideas.

I think that's a bit simplistic. The limiting factors are imagination and technology. One can have amazing ideas, but without the technology to realise them they're just fanciful. Equally it's sometimes the technology that drives the ideas. Once designers can see the potential - say a crappy first-gen foldable phone - it can spur on creativity & ultimately yield novel results. I see where we are now with foldables as comparable to the early days of "laptop" computers - unwieldy, unreliable technology demonstrators that few people bought into. But 3 years from now? or 5 or 10? I can't wait to see what happens in this space, I think it might turn out to be pretty amazing...

 

[cybershot]

Samsung's foldable phone is officially the 'Galaxy Fold'

$1980.

Bargain

 

[cybershot]

U.G.L.Y you ain’t got no alibi. You ugly. You ugly.



Let’s wait for version 3 hey. And a price drop.

 

[BigTom]

It's like they've designed a tablet with a preview screen, rather than a phone that is also a tablet.

 

[kabbes]

17mm thick? Jesus, that thing’s not just slipping into my pocket. Even with a case on, my current phone isn’t that thick. And speaking of such things, what do you do about protective casing? Or is my £2000 phone getting broken the first time I drop it, which will be within 2 days?

 

[skyscraper101]

Inevitably any Gen 1 device isn't going to be peak times for the technology, but it's a good marker in the sand from which future upgrades can build, rivals can try to better, and a price drop is virtually guaranteed.

Plus the more convergence they can get with the tablet/laptop market, the more a slightly higher price is justified as this becomes both your main phone, and your main tablet/laptop.

 

[skyscraper101]

17mm thick? Jesus, that thing’s not just slipping into my pocket. Even with a case on, my current phone isn’t that thick. And speaking of such things, what do you do about protective casing? Or is my £2000 phone getting broken the first time I drop it, which will be within 2 days?

I can live with the thickness. My wallet is not much thicker than that. I think protective casing may end up going the way of the interchangeable fascia though. As in, it's not really suitable for any device which folds and has screens on either side. On the upside, given this is a completely new style of screen which doesn't shatter upon bending, I'd expect them to be rather more durable if dropped. Time will tell of course.

 

[8ball]

..given this is a completely new style of screen which doesn't shatter upon bending, I'd expect them to be rather more durable if dropped. Time will tell of course.

If it's dropped while open, I wouldn't expect it to fare well.

 

[skyscraper101]

If it's dropped while open, I wouldn't expect it to fare well.

Kind of like most other tablets then. It's usually a good idea to try and not drop these things.

All I know is that they aren't made of glass, so perhaps they may be less prone to smashing on impact.

 

[Mr Retro]

It's a very ugly piece of kit isn't it?

 

[kabbes]

Kind of like most other tablets then. It's usually a good idea to try and not drop these things.

All I know is that they aren't made of glass, so perhaps they may be less prone to smashing on impact.

When somebody answers a question about the problem with dropping things with “try not to drop it” I know there’s a problem!

My tablet also has a protective case and thank fuck it does, frankly.

 

[skyscraper101]

When somebody answers a question about the problem with dropping things with “try not to drop it” I know there’s a problem!

My tablet also has a protective case and thank fuck it does, frankly.

If you're worried about breaking anything by being clumsy, then just buy a more appropriate device. It's why I personally never buy expensive sunglasses for instance.

But I think it's premature to write something off entirely for that reason. Especially when we don't even know how fragile it is yet. There's never been a one device suits-all with any other phone or tablet. So we've no reason to think this will be for everyone either.

 

[kabbes]

If you're worried about breaking anything by being clumsy, then just buy a more appropriate device. It's why I personally never buy expensive sunglasses for instance.

But I think it's premature to write something off entirely for that reason. Especially when we don't even know how fragile it is yet.

There are two types of people in the world. Those that know they are clumsy enough to drop their devices and those who have cracked screens and bashed bevels.

 

[8ball]

If you're worried about breaking anything by being clumsy, then just buy a more appropriate device. It's why I personally never buy expensive sunglasses for instance.

But I think it's premature to write something off entirely for that reason. Especially when we don't even know how fragile it is yet.

I expect they've made it as robust as they can. That might partly explain some of the painful design compromises/
I'm perfectly happy for early-adopters to shell out for the development of this tech.

 

[skyscraper101]

There are two types of people in the world. Those that know they are clumsy enough to drop their devices and those who have cracked screens and bashed bevels.

As I keep saying, the fact that these phones have screens that can literally bend in half, kind of hints that we may be talking at odds when it comes to screens shattering on impact.

And as I also said, we haven't seen them out in the wild yet. I'm going to reserve judgement until I do.