![]() Second, their energy output isn't enough to run a power-hungry phone for very long. First, they use a solid-state electrolyte to generate power-yielding reactions, and that takes longer to charge. New battery technology in early development is moving in the direction of the thin, flat cell, but these aren't the right solution for a bendable phone, either, Juzkow says. They need to be stiff and unyielding in order to last the longest time possible. LGĬonventional lithium ion batteries, which power today's smartphones, are very rigid, says Marc Juzkow, vice president of research and development for battery company Leyden Energy. Today's conventional batteries work best as a brick. What do you do about the battery, the processors, the camera module, and the NFC circuitry - all currently static wafers, bricks, and chips? ![]() If we do see bendable designs with plastic screens, they'll likely top reference products and concept designs, or very early niche models, rather than mature, mass-market devices.Įven if you get the screen technology and the glass to flex, there's still the matter of the other internal components. Glass is also better at being impermeable to oxygen and water, two compounds you want as far from a phone's electronic guts as possible, to keep them from damage and aging. (I've reviewed touch-screen phones without glass covers, and the experience was pretty terrible.) Images look sharper and clearer with a glass cover, and it's also more responsive and sensitive to touch. The fact that the smartphone industry has almost wholesale moved from plastic screens to glass is also telling - you don't see a plastic Retina Display on the iPhone 5S, after all. "It's a material reality that anything that conforms will be more susceptible to scratches."Ĭorning's Chowdhury notes that some companies have demoed an arching plastic display for several years, but that there's still a long road to commercialization, even for the polymer. "There will be a compromise there," said Mark Rolston, chief creative director of celebrated firm Frog Design.
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