This Samsung “Bend and Slide” device does just that
There are tons of patents for weird and eccentric-looking devices out there, and this Samsung Bend and Slide phone is no different. Based on the patent images, we see a phone that, even in its normal state, looks rather interesting. It almost resembles the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha. The left side of the display cascades over the rounded edge while the right side is flat. Other than that, it looks to have the profile of a regular smartphone. That changes when you start to manipulate the screen. You can fold the right side of the display upwards which gives the phone a weird compact mirror look to it. The display will be bent about halfway down, so it will be a bit uneven. That’s not it, however. If you want more real estate, you can slide the screen out from the right side before bending it. When you do this, more of the display will lie flat, and less will face outward.
How could this device be used?
With the mainstream foldable phones out on the market, their use-cases are pretty axiomatic, but with this Samsung Bend and Slide phone, it’s a little harder to see how it can be used. Sliding the phone without bending it, we can use it to gain more real estate. The issue here is that bending the display doesn’t seem to add much utility. Bending it cuts the screen real estate in half, and, with the screen slid out, it’s split unevenly. Using it on a tabletop like a mini laptop would either give you very little room for the keyboard or the content. This is an idea that might (and probably should) just stay an idea. It’s interesting to see what kind of stuff Samsung wants to do with its flexible screen technology, and it’s nice to see other uses for it. The thing is that when thinking about real-world use, it might not make much sense.
There was another weird Samsung patent granted, recently
Samsung’s been really busy, as the company was also granted a patent for a phone that could slide twice. The display would slide outward from the side, then it would slide from the top.
