While LG and Samsung battle it out for who has the most bendy screen award, has anyone stopped to think about how practical they are ?
The LG Flex which doesn't really flex, does bring an interesting idea to handsets. The phone will sit much better round your face and look very Star Trek like - not to mention the microphone will be much better positioned to pick up even the smallest whisper on an airport forecourt or any other loud environment.
So it may look good and have good technical points. However firstly what about watching a film, plenty watch them on their handsets, taking the LG as an example, wont that curve kinda ruin some aspect of the film ? maybe some optimization might help but then your not watching a film as it was intended - the same goes for games, the amount your finger travels across the screen will be 'faster' assuming a distance to glass ratio is the same as it is towards the end of the screen. Sound crazy ? Maybe so, however they are technical issues that need to be looked at. The Samsung effort takes a different stand point, it has curves at the side rather than having a big bend in the middle, like a weak boomerang.
Humm so can you touch the screen here, on those curved sides, if not wouldn't that be a complete waste ? Will this mean a new set of headaches for the average dev who wants his apps out on Android. Maybe there would be apps that use this extra screen estate for hiding 'tabs' or using it as a way to park apps for later use. Who knows. Yes it opens up interesting possibilities but again are LG and Samsung thinking practical ? Wouldn't this also cause some fragmentation in screen estate.
Both handsets have the same issue, how do you protect them ? The LG will be difficult to hide in anything else than a jacket pocket. Putting it into your jeans or trousers will cause an unwelcome bulge (ok children stop laughing), not to mention how on earth do you find a screen protector for it - that would be a right bitch to fit, as would a case. Sure there are innovative products out there but how would 'ottercase' make a decent shield for the LG Flex ?
Talking for cases, the Samsung would even have a more horrible experience in regards to protecting your lovely investment. How would you stop those sides from hitting the floor and shattering the screen, at the same time keeping the sides useful and accessible to your fingers. Again that brings up a whole host of issues that need plenty of innovation to work round the issue. Expecting someone to come up with some ideas for a phone case that has a limited market outside a few geeks is a bridge too far, the case cost would be ridiculous. The only way round this would be going back to the nasty slip on cases from the 1990s, remember the Nokia 5320 cases ? Yuck. Again a screen protector that wraps round would be prone to pealing off quickly, a slightly different issue to the LG but still an issue that needs to be over come.
So while they look great, and they might sell, the craze will pass quickly when the screens have taken some abuse, videos look strange and mobile phone insurance for these handsets will be expensive.
Sometimes the tefal heads that come up with these ideas should think about how the regular Joe would live with their curved screens / phones.
My bet is - not long.