14 DAY TRIAL // Sony's Tokyo labs are working on a way to create handheld computers, phones and portable game consoles that can fold when the user needs to carry them around and become rigid again for use. This is in many ways similar to Origami, the art of paper folding. The company has recently filed a patent for getting bulky electronic devices to fold and become more pocket-friendly.
Reportedly the body and screen of the folding gadgets would be made from a flexible polymer that contains conductive rubber bracing struts filled with a gel of aluminosilicate particles suspended in silicon oil. When a current is passed through the struts, the particles would clump together and harden the gel, thus the handset would become solid enough to use. Also Sony seems to have discovered that it wouldn't take much power to make the device harden, which means that its 'folding capabilities' wouldn't compromise its battery life.
Also mentioned in the patent is that the transition would take just miliseconds. This basically means that you'll be able to turn a bulky device into a pocket-sized gadget almost instantly. While many manufacturers are interested in making mobile devices smaller, they generally adopt a different approach and cut down on the features in order to also reduce size.
That's why at the moment, users looking for a feature packed smartphone only have one available choice, sticking to the same bulky devices as before. Sony's folding gadgets would definitely change all this and provide more advanced users with handsets that are easier to carry around. There is no information at the moment on when we'll get to see such devices.