April 19, 2024

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Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics wowed spectators at its annual developer conference, SDC2019, held on Oct. 29 in San Jose, California, with a rendering image of what could be the firm’s next foldable smartphone.

Taking the stage at the conference, Jeong Hye-soon, head of the firm’s framework research and development unit, said the emerging foldable technology will continue to make devices more compact than before.

Jeong Hye-soon, head of the firm’s framework research and development unit.(Yonhap)

 

“A new form factor of a smartphone that Samsung is testing now can fit in your pocket, and it will change the way you use your phone,” said Jung, introducing the rendering image of a clamshell-like smartphone on the stage.

The Korean tech giant did not announce whether the newly unveiled foldable design will be adopted for its next-gen foldable smartphone, but it said it is one of the prototypes in the pipeline.

In addition to the foldable phone that folds in from top to bottom, Samsung also has a foldable smartphone whose screen folds outward, like Huawei’s Mate X, up its sleeve, according to sources.

Samsung’s 4.6-inch Galaxy Fold smartphone, which hit store shelves on Sept. 5, becomes a 7.3-inch tablet PC when unfolded.

The tech giant said it will continue to explore a range of new form factors in the foldable category as promised at SDC last year.

Also unveiled at the developer conference was the second version of the firm’s user interface One UI 2, which helps users interact naturally across devices, including tablets, wearables and foldable devices.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)