Consider this a preview of the preview. It’s an opportunity to take advantage of the brief lull in the Sunday morning news before the deluge takes full effect on Monday. Tomorrow, after all, is when Samsung will host its CES 2024 press conference alongside other big names like Sony and LG.
However, this weekend, the company is rolling out “a new generation of products that fold in and out,” along with “screen-sized” foldable and slide-out OLED displays. The first was billed, appropriately, as an “In&Out Flip.” The latter part is a nod to the foldable phone form factor and — one assumes — an attempt to differentiate the technology from a popular hamburger chain and the lesser-known 1997 Kevin Kline film.
Image credits: Samsung
The company will provide more details about the technology at a press conference tomorrow, but in terms of audio, we’re at the proof-of-concept stage here. Often times, these devices are a dead end for development, but Samsung managed to kick off the foldable phone craze a few years ago, so strange things have happened.
“In&Out Flip is a technology that can provide a new alternative to consumers who prefer bar-shaped smartphones due to the thickness of foldable products,” the company said in a statement. “When folded out, the front and back of the product can be used as a screen, creating a new user experience.”
This technology is an effective attempt to reduce the need for separate external displays found in the current generation of foldable devices. Among other things, removing that secondary screen would reduce the size of the product.
As for testing the technology, it is clear that Samsung used the device in temperatures ranging from -4 degrees to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. The team dunked the screens in water, rubbed them with sand and tossed basketballs onto their surface, which sounds like a pretty fun time, if I’m honest.
A folding screen will also be on display in Vegas this week. This technology appears in the Rollable Flex, as well as the Flex Hybrid, the latter of which combines it with a sliding screen. Also at the event is an unnamed earphone case with a built-in display. There’s no word on when — or if — these products might hit the market, but I wouldn’t count on them showing up at the company’s upcoming Galaxy S24 event.