To bend or not to bend, that is the question

I was prompted to write this material by the news about what device Nubia is going to present at MWC 2019 in Barcelona.

It's no secret that at the moment there is a crisis of ideas in the field of smartphone construction. Many devices have become similar to each other and, in fact, do not have any unique design or characteristics. All plus or minus is the same – a black rectangle of the screen almost in the entire front surface.

To bend or not to bend, that is the question

In this regard, more and more often one can hear the opinion that earlier the sky was bluer and the grass was greener, not like today. In support of these words, articles filled with nostalgia are written about the phones of the past years, unique in terms of design and form factor.

  • To bend or not to bend, that is the question

  • To bend or not to bend, that is the question

Articles like this usually collect tons of comments from nostalgic antiquity lovers. In part, I agree with all this, I also believe that there is a crisis of ideas at the moment. However, there is a feeling that this is not so much a crisis as a lull before the next breakthrough, followed by another change in the principle of interaction with personal electronic devices and their transition to a new quality. Roughly the same thing happened before the release of the first iPhone, which changed the principle of interaction with the phone.

To bend or not to bend, that is the question

Before the release iPhone, there was a feeling that engineering thought could not break out of the vicious circle of 'buttons + display', although there were many attempts. So today, the development rested on the limitations of a monoblock with a display on the entire surface.

However, until the next leap has taken place, I propose to speculate on where this 'breakthrough' is possible today.

Ideas

The two main ideas that have developed in recent years are flexible displays that allow you to resize the same device, making a tablet out of a smartphone and vice versa, and devices without mechanical controls and any holes in the case.

Which of these trends will continue in the future?

Flexible display

Manufacturers have been procrastinating the idea of ​​flexible displays for several years now, and many have noted in this field.

Samsung

The very first of those who, in addition to words, confirmed their intentions with deeds, was Samsung, which repeatedly announced its plans to release a bendable smartphone long before the last CES 2019.

To bend or not to bend, that is the question

In addition to plans and prototypes, it should be remembered about the launch of the first commercial devices with curved screens, a pioneer among which was the Galaxy Note Edge, which had one curved edge. Many other models with curved screens followed.

Xiaomi

Recently, the Chinese company Xiaomi has not lagged behind its Korean competitor, having presented its vision of a bending device and declared its unique path.

To bend or not to bend, that is the question

Moreover, it was not someone who did it, but the president of the company Lin Bing himself, who demonstrated on the Chinese social network Weibo a prototype of a bendable smartphone, the screen of which does not fold in half, but is divided into three parts, two of which fold back, turning a small tablet into a compact smartphone.

To bend or not to bend, that is the question

Huawei

The company Huawei, which is developing by leaps and bounds, is not lagging behind its counterparts.

And again, as in the case of Xiaomi, the main newsmaker was not just anyone, but the head of the company.

Richard Yu made an official announcement that he will present his own smartphone with a flexible display at MWC 2019 in February this year Huawei. In addition to the flexible display, support for fifth generation networks (5G) is announced thanks to the proprietary Balong 5000 modem.

To bend or not to bend, that is the question

Information about the appearance, as well as about other characteristics of the device is not given. Most likely, the manufacturer of the flexible display for this smartphone will be the company BOE, which is already a partner today Huawei. It remains only to wait for the exhibition and rely on insiders.

Intel

In addition to companies from which one can expect the implementation of the indicated plans, those from whom you do not expect this have decided to get into the stream of flexible screens.

The company Intel has long been trying to regain its place in the mobile electronics market, having patented a foldable smartphone running Windows. Information about the appearance of the device is extremely scarce, and is available in the form of a render made by a resource
LetsGoDigital is patent-based.

To bend or not to bend, that is the question

The first thing you notice is the similarity of the concept with Xiaomi. It's also a tablet that can be folded in two places, making it a compact device.

However, if, in the case of Xiaomi, the gadget has a chance to see the light of day and even get on sale, Intel is unlikely to go beyond a patent.

Despite this, the very fact of having such a patent speaks of interest in this topic from various manufacturers related to the field of consumer electronics.

Monolithic body

As for the trend to abandon physical controls and openings in the case, it appeared relatively recently and became rather a necessary measure for those who could not stand out in something more significant.

The need for such experiments is questionable, not only because at the moment there is no urgent need for such delights, but also due to the fact that traditional solutions in the form of buttons and connectors work perfectly, are familiar and convenient for many.

Yes, on the one hand, in the absence of holes in the case, it will be easier and cheaper for the manufacturer to ensure, for example, the currently popular water resistance of the device. But what does the user have to do with it? After all, you do not need to be seven inches in the forehead to predict that the money saved on this will go into the pocket of the manufacturer and the seller, and will not become a reason to reduce the cost of the gadget for the final buyer.

Despite this, today many companies are engaged in experiments in the field of creating monolithic gadgets.

HTC

You should probably start with HTC and their U11 model with pressure-sensitive edges. This was one of the first steps towards this type of management.

To bend or not to bend, that is the question

Google's Pixel 2 has similar edges.

To bend or not to bend, that is the question

null

And then the topic unexpectedly got its development in the form of concepts that offer to completely abandon any connectors and buttons.

Meizu

The first was the losing company Meizu, introducing a concept with the sonorous name of Zero.

To bend or not to bend, that is the question

It is unclear what the name implies. Hopefully 'Zero' means zero buttons and not zero sales. But in this smartphone, the main thing is not even the concept itself, but the fact that there is NFC there! ?

And if it's no joke, then among the characteristics of the smartphone there is an all-ceramic body, wireless charging, a fingerprint scanner under the display, a piezo speaker that transmits sound through the display glass, as well as eSIM, which are not currently supported by Russian operators.

Vivo

In addition to Meizu, the company Vivo, which introduced the Apex 2019 model, took over the rejection of all holes and physical buttons.

To bend or not to bend, that is the question

Unlike Meizu Zero, Vivo Apex has a glass case, not ceramic. Otherwise, the characteristics are the same plus or minus.

Motorola

She did not stand aside once shaking with her design and technical know-how Motorola, now existing as part of Lenovo.

As usual, Moto has its own way. This time it is only a patent, but the patent is original – in addition to rejecting buttons and connectors, Motorola is going to make a purely individual device out of a smartphone that will not respond to the touch of strangers, since the entire surface of the device will be itself is a fingerprint scanner that recognizes the hands of the owner.

To bend or not to bend, that is the question

Time will tell whether such a device will see the light of day, but the idea is interesting.

Third option

But both the first and second paths are just the development of an existing type of device and, in fact, does not change the usual principle of interaction with electronics, but only develops it.

A much more interesting option is the concept of a device from the Nubia company mentioned at the beginning – nubia-α.

To bend or not to bend, that is the question

The device is a rethinking of the idea of ​​a wrist-worn device and development in combination with the aforementioned flexible screen technology.

Although the idea itself is not new (the patent for a flexible phone that can become a bracelet was still owned by the real Nokia), it has only now become possible to implement something even remotely similar.

To bend or not to bend, that is the question

The Nubia-α is a bracelet with a relatively large flexible screen that wraps around the arm. Thanks to this design, the screen area is sufficient for comfortable interaction with the device, and the ability to remove the bracelet and unfold the screen allows you to use the bracelet almost like a classic smartphone.

To bend or not to bend, that is the question

The question of the power supply of the device remains open, or, in a simple way, what kind of battery there will be and how long such a gadget will live away from the outlet.

Despite the controversy of this form factor, I see this development path as the most promising, since in this case the device from being wearable in a pocket turns into a wearable on the body, and this is a completely different level of convenience and type of interaction. It is possible that as a result, several types of devices will exist in parallel, complementing each other, as smartphones and smart watches do today, in order to change roles in the future.

As an option, in the end we will come to, albeit a rethought, but to the idea of ​​modular devices, where there will be a main computing unit that can be conveniently used both independently and integrated with various peripherals in the form of large screens, cameras, projection modules, etc. etc.

To bend or not to bend, that is the question

And the most obvious contender for the role of this very computing center is a bracelet equipped with a compact and capacious battery, a flexible durable screen and a universal wireless interface that allows you to interact with a wide variety of equipment around.

In addition to purely technical functions, such a bracelet will become a purely individual device that is both a personal identifier and a payment tool and a multimedia center.

I would like to hear your opinion on this matter, dear readers. I invite you to a discussion in the comments, let's dream up.

Rate article
About smartphones.
Add a comment