Overnight a video leaked on to the internet, courtesy of Evan Blass (go follow him @evleaks). The video shows a device, thought to be a Xiaomi device and is likely a prototype, but we know multiple manufacturers are working on this technology, so its possible we see it some time in 2019.
The device that begins as a tablet, close to 3x the width of a standard phone. The icons are laid out in a standard grid layout (4×4), with lots of padding between each icon, there could easily be double that amount on screen and actually, like an iPad, this looks like a really inefficient use of the screen real estate.
The home screen features multiple pages of apps, just like your phone or tablet and we see the user swipe to page 2, then back to page 1. This looks fast, response and generally what we’d expect from a modern device.
Google Maps is launched and the text is in Chinese, which again fits with the Xiaomi theory, but certainly doesn’t confirm it. Here’s where things get interesting.
After panning and zooming around a little bit, with Google Maps filling the entire screen, the user folds both the left and right side of the device behind the center display.
The screen just folds.
What is noticeable is that Google Maps is actually panned accidentally by the touches made to fold the sides of the display. This is likely something that could be fixed, but is definitely an new issue that’s created by a device with a curved display. Once the display is curved, that edge needs to be immediately deactivated, both from touch input and power to save battery.
The other consequence of a device like this is the additional thickness, something we don’t get to see given the video is shot in the dark.
Check out the video below and let us know what you think in the comments, are you excited by folding phones?
