Samsung has been showing off flexible display prototypes for years, but so far we haven’t seen a phone, tablet, or other mobile device hit the streets with a screen that you can roll up and put in your pocket.
But now the company is showing off a bit more than a flexible display — the company showed off a demo of a smartphone with a flexible display that folds around the sides of the handset so you can see content on the sides as well as the front.
The new display technology is called Youm, and Samsung says it offers improved contrast and color.
What’s significant is that Samsung is starting to show off the screen in working products. It could still be a while before you have a phone that you can roll up when you’re not using it, but at the very least the new technology could help produce phones and tablets with screens that are much more difficult to break.
If a screen can bend, it’s much less likely to crack when it falls on the ground.