Just when you thought innovation was Apple’s ballgame ( though are Apple iPhone 5 debacle we are not expecting much from iPhone 6), Samsung went ahead and unveiled its bendable screens during the CES 2013 last month, leaving everyone spellbound. They called it ‘Youm’, and these screens use organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology for their displays. Samsung has also claimed that these bendable screens are unbreakable – twist it any way you like.
For now, however, Samsung has only showcased the technology, but hasn’t yet incorporated it in any of its phones (How we wish it comes in Samsung Galaxy S4). But we’re guessing the day won’t be too far when the company actually brings out a smartphone featuring a bendable ‘Youm’ screen. The implications are massive for the smartphone industry, which is growing at a rapid pace since the past few years.
If ‘Youm’ is the future of smartphones, we can expect our phones of tomorrow to not just be unbreakable, but also able to be rolled up into a neat little package and pocketed away until it’s time to use them. These revolutionary screens were also extremely thin, which means the smartphone of the future could be exceptionally light and sleek in addition to being flexible.
But how far is this future that we conceive of? While there’s nothing really new about OLEDs, they are awfully unstable, especially in the presence of oxygen. These OLEDs need to be completely sealed off from air, making their mass production quite a complex affair. But since Samsung has managed to showcase their bendable screen, looks like this technology could very well become the mainstay in the coming few years. Is Apple listening?
