At a recent press event in San Francisco, LG’s Ramchan Woo made some interesting remarks about the future of smartphones. When considering the remainder of this decade, Woo pontificates that it will close with up to 40% of smartphones emulating the G Flex. LG believes that flexible devices are the future, whether they be curved like the G Flex or completely foldable, like so many concepts and show floor devices we’ve seen lately.
LG is attempting to stay ahead of the curve (pun intended), and suspects that the flat monolith design we see in current cell phones is going away. While it’s a slow transition, It’s one that will undoubtedly happen. though 40% seems daunting, we consider the future as it appears now: Google Glass, smart watches, larger phones and smaller tablets.
Something has to give, and form factor is probably one of them. In building the G Flex, LG attempted to find a pleasing curve for the body. After over 300 trial-and-error mock-ups, LG settled on a 700mm curvature which is the “perfect fit for your body”. The body — ours, not the phone — was the reason LG decided to forge a new path.
With that, LG also had to rethink the rest of the device, and asked LG Chem, their in-house battery manufacturer — to design a flexible battery. They did, creating one that allowed for layers to shift, along with a seperator. Along with display enhancements and thinner glass to sit atop it, LG was finally able to make a phone that bends, flexes, and resists damage. If this really is the future, count us in.
