While the current trend in electronics seems to be producing devices that come with flexible and curved displays, Samsung might be wanting to take things to a completely whole new level with a tablet that uses a foldable display. We covered a patent that Samsung filed for in recent past that was for a device that has a foldable display and this tablet just might be the device that was in question. The rumor comes out of Korea which is of course, Samsung’s homebase, and the media states that Samsung is planning to launch a tablet that comes with a tri-fold design much like a wallet, by sometime next year.
The tablet would reportedly be around the 8 or 9 inch size, and have the ability to fold up in a smaller size for presumed better portability because of the more compact design. Although being able to fold the tablet would also most likely make it thicker when in the folded state, so the idea of compactness and portability would only go so far. The tablets display is rumored to potentially have a OLED full HD display resolution, and the report also states that Samsung already has working prototypes of the foldable tablet out in the wild.
With prototypes allegedly already in play, Samsung could very well have this device ready to launch by mid next year, although without much detail or specifics it’s unclear whether or not they would plan to launch such a device outside of their own home market, assuming everything goes as planned and the tablet makes it to a production stage. Even with an OLED display type and only full HD resolution, the act of the display being able to fold twice would potentially make for a fairly high cost and would probably not be marketed towards the average consumer. The idea of having a tablet that folds is certainly a cool thought, but the tech is in early stages and one could assume that it would have a long ways to go before it becomes commercially available. If we ever get to see a working model of this device, would Samsung plan to load it with its own Tizen OS, or Android?