Samsung Foldable Smartphone Rumors: Patent for 'Project Valley' Leaks
Samsung's first foldable smartphone, codenamed "Project Valley," was spotted online in patents depicting the flexible device.
With rumors emerging Samsung would be releasing a flexible display handset early next year, patents with what appear to be the "Project Valley" were posted by Patently Mobile, with illustrations showing how the South Korean tech manufacturer plans to pull the technology off.
The patents, which are dated 2014, depicts the foldable smartphone construction in detail. Earlier information described "Project Valley" as sporting an extremely thin plastic screen display instead of traditional glass, which would allow users to bend the phone at impossible angles without it shattering.
Below the flexible screen, a mesh material appearing to be textile-like in nature is secured by tensile springs and a central hinge serving to keep the bendable display tight when the phone's clamshell design is opened.
Another illustration shows how the handset opens up like a laptop instead of laying flat. It appears to utilize another type of hinge mechanism, as well as some sort of elastic material to keep the display taut.
Based on the date of on the patents, Samsung may have been exploring all the different ways they would be able to make bendable smartphone technology work, which falls around the time they started teasing a foldable handset in major tech expos to show what was currently in their project roster.
"Project Valley" is speculated to be utilizing flexible OLED technology combined with a hinge and spring setup, and while the details of what looks to be Samsung's upcoming concept device have as yet to be released, it is rumored the company will be equipping it with high-end specs and other surprises.
Samsung is expected to release its new bendable smartphone early next year, which could quite possibly be the 2016 CES that will be held in Barcelona, Spain in February.
