Samsung Foldiplay folding smartphone fits in your wallet

It looks like the latest trend in mobile phones is having a curved screen. Could the next one be folding phones? Samsung thinks so.

Curved phones, with their shaped screens, are out there in the real world now. No matter what you think of them, they’re there.

Do they make it more comfortable to pocket them? Are they nicer to use thanks to their face-hugging shape? I think that the jury is still out as to whether these are true benefits or just proof that it can be done.

One thing that these curved callers don’t help with is the move to make displays, and therefore phones, larger but keep phones easy to stow away. Now, a folding phone however, would not only help phablets more pocketable, but make them fit almost anywhere.

The latest Samsung concept shows the potential for flexible displays, making their first tentative steps towards the mainstream in the Samsung Galaxy Round.

The design is quite reminiscent of a super-skinny flip phone. Similar to a book of matches, the Foldiplay unfolds over three squares — one showing the active caller’s photo, the middle part showing call details, and the bottom square offering phone controls.

It also looks like the ‘squares’ can be assigned different jobs such as for the camera.

As the Foldiplay is 210 x 210mm in size and has a width of 2mm, but you can fold it down to a minimum of 70 × 70 mm.

This could then be a phone that could inside a wallet, rather than alongside it in your pocket.

Granted, as this is a concept there’s still plenty of work to be done. Not only on a more interesting interface but figuring out how to make bendy batteries and circuitry to run through the folds.