By 2020, Ericsson (2015) predicted that 70% of the global population will possess smartphones. With Population Pyramid’s estimation of approximately 8 billion people on the globe by that time, it means 5.6 billion folks will have access to this active mobile device. Now compared to the case of years ago, when every house needed to have a radio, a TV, and a CD player with heavy stacks of disks to know what’s going on in the society, each of the 5.6 billion people can now do much more with only one device. It might seem to some people that smartphone is very likely the final technology convergence, but is it?
Well, the latest patent of Samsung might show different.
According to Chokkattu (Jul 2016), Samsung’s years of efforts on foldable smartphones finally showed some results, and the first device is very likely to launch in early 2017. The foldable Galaxy X phone will display and work on different modes whenever the user folds or unfolds the device. The user only needs to touch an icon on the phone edge to open an app when the device is unfolded. Also, the device allows multiple users to log on and access their own profiles on the same device by just selecting their profile icon on the edge and typing in their passwords.
The Korean corporation was reported to be working on two new models. One can be folded like a wallet, while the other one can display either a 5-inch or 8-inch screen by rolling ways.
Recently popular tablets and phablets run on a display from 7 to 9 inches, with the exception of iPad Pro. If this foldable device is to be successfully launched on market, there is a really high chance that it will replace tablets in the near future. Not only can this innovation combine the functions of both smartphones and tablets, but it also can steal the PC market by allowing multiple users to work on the same device. So, who knows, when this folding ability is carefully researched and optimized, how much can a foldable smartphone do?
https://www.wired.com/2015/02/smartphone-only-computer/
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/samsung-foldable-smartphone-news/
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