Flexible-display phones could be just around the bend (video)

 February 17, 2016 - 23:55 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Flexible smartphones have been in testing behind closed doors for a while, but the emergence of a fully-malleable prototype handset suggests they're close to becoming a thing, Digital Spy said.

Researchers from Human Media Lab at Queen's University in Canada have revealed a bendable Android device called ReFlex.

The experimental smartphone is equipped with a 720p flexible OLED touchscreen from LG, with bend sensors and haptic feedback monitors on board.

The prototype handset, which runs Android 4.4, offers a glimpse at a next-generation smartphone interface with more than a hint of sci-fi about it.

Video footage shows the research team playing Angry Birds with a bendy control system, launching their irate avians by flexing the device.

They also demonstrate how users could flick through the pages of a digital comic book using the same method.

Several major tech companies, including Samsung and LG, are ploughing resources into flexible mobile devices, and the ReFlex offers a sneak peek at how their first wave of malleable phones could function.