In about a month, Samsung will be releasing a new phone with an impressive new feature–a foldable screen. The phone at first glance looks like a normal smartphone, until you unfold it. It then becomes a small tablet! This is not a brand new idea, as Royole released a phone earlier with the same technology but faced some issues. Samsung, however, seem to have perfected it. They promised app continuity, which is something that Royole was not able to accomplish in their design. This means the app the user had open will seamlessly shift formats when the phone is being folded or unfolded. Samsung said they will also include several cameras all over the phone to make sure that you can still take a picture no matter what shape the phone is in. The phone can handle an extremely high amount of folds due to a durable internal hinge mechanism. Unfortunately, the phone costs almost $2,000, so if you want one, you better start saving up from now!
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-47305417/first-look-at-samsung-s10-and-fold-phones
I thought it was hilarious when I heard we were getting a foldable phones. I mean we already did that, didn’t we? I got my first phone when I was 12, almost 8 years ago. It was a flip phone, and I loved it to death. So imagine my happiness when we heard news that we were getting the smartphone version of the flip phone. Its a normal phone, however once you unfold it, it turns into a small tablet. Of course, this lead to a plethora of questions on my part, especially after the unveiling of such technology. When you’re using it as a normal phone and its folded up, this thing is thicker or at least as thick as the first iphone. It looks like you’ll be carrying something the size of a brick in your pocket. And on top of that, this kind of tech isn’t going to come cheap. Is it really going to be worth buying a thick phone and and tiny tablet when you can buy both separately for less. What is interesting about these phones is that companies like Samsung are trying to start a new trend in smartphone consumers with this technology, where as till now, Apple has always been the trendsetter. Will consumers follow suit? Or will this risk prove unprofitable?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHR8efUn3SY
This is my first time hearing about this foldable phone created by Samsung. I find this to be a very interesting concept because I am honestly not sure how this will go over. The thing that I find to be the most interesting is how thick it is when the phone is folded. I feel like in today’s world of technology most people are looking for thinner and light-weight models. It is all about who can make the next lightest computer or who can make the next thinnest iPhone. In the article I found, it was stated that the starting price is $1,980 which seems ultimately high. Usually consumers have no problem dropping large amounts of money on the latest Apple product because it is an “on-trend” popularized brand. I am not sure how many people will spend this amount of money for a Samsung brand phone. It also amazes me that we are technically both advancing and also going back in time at once. Samsung created an advanced phone; however, it is almost like we are going back to the “flip phone days”. The article includes information on the different colors the customer can purchase the phone in, which are mustard yellow, sky blue, black and gray. I’m excited what other companies such as Apple will be coming up with in response to the new Samsung phone.
Warren, Tom. “Samsung’s Foldable Phone Is the $1,980 Galaxy Fold.” The Verge, The Verge, 20 Feb. 2019, http://www.theverge.com/2019/2/20/18231249/samsung-galaxy-fold-folding-phone-features-screen-photos-size-announcement.
I think this folding mechanism is very interesting because its basically a 2 in 1 for technology users. One being a compact cellar device used for calling, texting and social media and another being something similar to a tablet which optimal for streaming videos or movies. This is great for users because it eliminates having to spend money on another device to fill the later needs but its approaching on a market which companies such as Apple make a lot of money in which is tablets. I think this a cool idea but in my opinion it will be one that dies quickly due to its corky design model, extreme pricing and encroachment in a market which makes a lot of money
This is very intriuging to me because people often complain about the size of phones today. This isn’t just the size of the screen but the overall size of the device. The most popular phone, the IPhone, has released models that some people can’t fit in their pocket easily. This causes some aggrivation. If the phone folds up, I wonder if that will solve this issue. That being said, will the phone be thicker, because the layers need to fold on top of each other instead of thin but a large face where the screen is? If apple decides to replicate this in some manner, I believe that users would buy apple’s product even if Samsung comes out with it first. Apple has practically monopolized the industry.
https://www.imore.com/iphone-x-review
The folding phone trend is definitely interesting and the competition between companies is great to watch. Another company actively pursuing this is Huawei, who is launching their Mate X this year, which is a competitor in the folding phone game. The two phones take different approaches to the concept and I think the success of both will determine where this concept goes in the future. I think that consumers will determine which features are more desirable on a folding phone. Huawei is definitely more popular in Asian markets than we see in the US, but they are very slowly pushing into western markets. I think that folding phones will only become popular once the price point drops more in the range of $1000 which is what we see many very high end phones ending up around.
source: https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/samsung-galaxy-fold-vs-huawei-mate-x/