After the folding Samsung Galaxy F, is a stretching smartphone next?

It took 5 years for Samsung to make their 2013 vision of a folding smartphone real, and it is near certain that Samsung will be launching their folding Samsung Galaxy F on the 20th February.

It is nearly certain however that Samsung is already working on what is next, and that could very well be a rolling, stretchable smartphone, if we read between the lines of a blog post by Hark-sang Kim is Samsung’s Senior Vice President and Head of Visual R&D Team.

In the post he talks about the journey to the launch of their folding smartphone, and also gave a brief nod to the future, saying:

Despite current trends, we are still living in a world where the size of the smartphone display can only be as large as the device itself. At Samsung, we began to ask ourselves how we can overcome this limitation and expand the possibilities of what users can accomplish on the go.

The Shape of Things to Come
Smartphone displays can’t get any larger without compromising portability – this was the orthodoxy for a long time.

Instead of accepting the status quo, resolving the contradiction between screen size and portability and developing a new form factor became the central focus of our innovation efforts.

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Preparing for the New Era
We expect to see a sea change in the smartphone form factor in the coming years. From rollable and stretchable devices to the devices that can fold in multiple ways are no longer beyond the realms of reality. Samsung is ready to usher in this future and create meaningful experiences for consumers that help them do more of what they love.

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Smartphone innovation is at the cusp of the next major transformation. The arrival of the Infinity Flex Display is just the beginning. We will continue pushing the limits of possibility and shape the future as it unfolds.

Kim specifically calls out rollable and stretchable devices, and it is useful to remember when Samsung first teased their folding phone in 2013, they also teased a rolling, stretching phone, as can be seen at the 1:20 mark if the video below:

Such a device would, of course, work better as a tablet than a smartphone, but for people who move from desk to desk rather than using their device standing, it may be the ideal companion device. We have also seen, from the rolling LG TV, that there are ways to make such a device rigid when extended but still rollable and thin.

What do our readers think of such a design? Let us know below.

Via Pocketnow.com