Do you know that Samsung announced today its Galaxy Round, the world's first smartphone with a curved display?
The phone uses Samsung's flexible screen technology, but the phone itself doesn't actually flex or bend. Instead the 5.7-inch Super AMOLED screen has a slight curve, or smile, to it, which Samsung says offers a "comfortable hand-grip feeling."
The curved display doesn't just offer aesthetic and comfort improvements, Samsung says. With the Roll Effect, users can tilt or roll the device on a table to check missed calls, remaining battery life and more. Additionally, Samsung has built in "one-hand operation features," which bring some settings or controls to the sides of the screen.
But before you get too excited about holding the curved screen in your hand, the Round will be available only in Korea for now, and according to The Wall Street Journal, it will cost a whopping 1,089,000 won, or $1,013. It will launch there in a "Luxury Brown" color this month.
Given the price tag and the limited launch, Samsung seems to be experimenting with the curved display technology as competitors such asLG also gear up to mass produce flexible displays and batteries for smartphones. That ultimately means your phone is going to stay flat for a while longer.
Samsung Galaxy Gear: The Next Big Thing Is Not Here
There are two reasons you might be wearing a watch right now. The first is obvious -- to tell time. The second? Because it looks good.
If you're not wearing a watch, there are probably reasons for that too. And one of the most likely is that you check the time when you pull out your phone to see if you have a new email or text message.
Smartwatches promise to bring those two things -- a watch and a smartphone -- together.
Samsung's Galaxy Gear is the first major smartwatch to arrive -- Google, Apple and Microsoft are all rumored to have their own high-tech bracelets up their respective sleeves. The Gear, which starts at $300 and requires Samsung's newest Note 3 phone to work, allows you to pick up calls with a tap of a button, reminds you of your meetings and even puts a camera and some apps on your body.
While the Gear is an interesting meld of old and new technology, is it really the next big thing?
Functional but Not Comfortable
The Gear looks just like the high-tech watch you'd expect Dick Tracy or James Bond to wear -- Samsung is even talking that up in its latest ad. But that's not always a good thing.
The Gear looks just like the high-tech watch you'd expect Dick Tracy or James Bond to wear -- Samsung is even talking that up in its latest ad. But that's not always a good thing.
A rubberish plastic band, which is available in a selection of colors, including orange, gray and pink, straps a 1.63-inch screen to your wrist. The face is a little bigger than Walter White's Casio calculator watch, but it's the heft that's underneath it that makes it very chunky and uncomfortable to wear.
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