14 DAY TRIAL // Smartphones that look like tablets and tablets with smartphone capabilities aren’t exactly news anymore, as it appears that in recent years, device manufacturers have been pushing towards the convergence of form factors.
With the launch of the new Galaxy W smartphone Samsung crossed the bridge from “phablet” territory and jumping directly into the tablet-sized smartphones. But it looks like Samsung has more to in store for use in this department.
If laptop/tablet hybrids exist and are selling quite well, the question that arises is why wouldn’t we see a tablet/smartphone hybrid be sold on the market too?
This week, one of the most important news we shared with you is that according to Korean media, Samsung is working on a foldable tablet design, a product that’s scheduled to arrive on the market in early 2015.
According to the sources, the tablet will arrive with an 8 or 9-inch display and will be pretty flexible. It will boasts an OLED full HD display resolution and have tri-folding capabilities.
Judging by the information, it could be argued Samsung is not only looking to provide customers with an easier way to store and carry their device.
The Korean tech giant is actually looking to deliver a smartphone/tablet hybrid that lets users take advantage of the either the big screen or the small screen, depending on occasion.
Perhaps mashing in the smartphone form factor along with the tablet, is Samsung’s way of perusing the “perfect” screen size. Moreover, a device that allows both the tablet and the smartphone to take advantage of their own separate screens might actually make sense.
The tech industry seems to have stumbled upon some barren lands lately. Nothing exciting or mind-blowing seems to be made available anymore. Sure Samsung just unveiled a bunch of new AMOLED tablets with incredibly crisps displays, but that’s not something unexpected.
Each tech manufacturer is trying to perfect and improve its products in terms of hardware and software, but it seems everything follows the same line of thought.
But a foldable tablet that could be also used as a smartphone is something the industry hasn’t seen before and will certainly be something that will attract the attention of a lot of people. So far we have only seen such ideas be teased as far as device concepts go.
If you think about it, there might be a pretty hefty demand for such a 2-in-1 device.
Consider this, owners of both smartphones and tablets tend to use one of them more, because of the hassle of carrying them both around. So the all-in-one solution might make a lot of people very happy.
Surely enough, the first batches of such a product will sell with premium price-tags, which will keep the average customers at bay for quite a while.
Sources claim Samsung already has a few prototypes circulating in the wild, so we might be able to spot one of them in the wild soon. As neat as foldable gadgets tent to be, the technology is still in its infancy so it might be a while before we see truly optimized products arrive on the market.
Since flexible screens like the ones we’ve seen with the LG G Flex and Galaxy Round, a foldable display isn’t so Sci-Fi anymore. And if it does, would you buy such a product?