Samsung is reportedly prepping a lineup of flexible color displays that could launch by the end of 2012 and find its way into devices such as smartphones and tablets by 2013.
According to various reports, Samsung has officially named the mobile flex “Youm,” which was previously spotted in the form of a 4.5-inch screen with a thinness of 0.3mm and resolution of 800×480 (WVGA).
As you can see in the video, the foldable displays are thinner and lighter than conventional screens, allowing manufacturers to design a new generation of watches, smartphones, tablets and scrolls.
Of course, Samsung isn’t the only industry heavyweight prepping flexible mobile displays for the masses. As TG Daily recently reported, LG has kicked off mass production of its long-awaited flexible e-paper displays.
The 6-inch, 1024 x 768 e-paper screens rolling of the production lines are capable of safely bending up to a cool 40 degrees. E-readers using the flexible tech are likely to be manufactured in the very near future, with bendable devices hitting parts of Europe sometime this spring – perhaps even by the end of April.
The display is only 0.7mm thick and covered with a protective film identical to those found on a mobile phone. Nevertheless, the product is meant to be so rugged that LG apparently had no problem dropping the e-paper from a height of 1.5 meters (5 feet) or smacking it repeatedly with a rubber mallet.
As previously noted, I personally think the concept of flexible mobile displays is pretty sweet indeed, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing some of the cool form factors hit the streets in 2012 and 2013.
