Flexible smartphone prototype must have multi-million dollar iPhone case industry crapping their pants
Imagine an iPhone you could not only drop without fear, but also accidentally send through the washing machine and have it come out no worse for wear (albeit cleaner). That appears to be the idea behind this super flexible “paper computer” being shown off by Human Media Lab.
While the idea of a paper-thin display sounds cool, the below video showing the use of “Bend Gestures” on a flexible, iPhone-like device looks slow and annoying as hell compared to the precision and quickness of finger swipes, and I’m guessing the only practical application would probably be for games or to perhaps simulate page turning on e-readers. Still, odds are we’ll see this technology creep into SOME sort of Apple device eventually, so it’s worth taking a look at.
What say you? Do you think this is the future of display technology?
This demonstration obviously lacks the polish of any product apple will ship. The animations suck, the gestures need to be be recognized faster and with more precision… And the product itself needs to be de-uglied.
It’s stupid!
I like the idea that it’s water proof, bend proof, very thin, and I’m sure it’s very light. But you have to bend it for it to function??? Really???
It’s pretty good for a proof in concept demonstration. The problem with eInk is that it is (still) in black and white, so it will see very limited applications as we are so used to color screens in our cell phones, computers, etc. So it is highly unlikely that it will be in an Apple product in the near future. No one is going to buy a B/W Apple ebook reader when there is the iPad2 and you can get a B/W Kindle.
If adopted, the changes will be seen in ebook readers like the Kindle which will make the avid book readers very happy. Apple users have different expectations when it comes to technology. Unless they solve the color and resolution issues in eInk, I doubt it will be seen in an Apple product soon. The thinfilm sensors might make their way into an Apple product in some form, possibly an iPod device. A Shuffle or a Nano perhaps? Make it small, water-proof and you can navigate by using bend-gestures. There are flexible OLED screens out there but they consume power to display unlike eInk.
Just an opinion.
Will it blend?