Chances are, if you have a new smartphone, it can do a lot of amazing things. One of them probably isn’t bending and flexing. In Samsung’s future, however, this is precisely what they’ll be able to do.

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to be held in January, Samsung Display (a spin-off of Samsung Electronics) will demonstrate a pair of prototype bendable screens that could one day find their way into an innovative new personal communications device (provided the entire phone can bend with the screen).  The company plans to showcase a 5.5-inch flexible screen intended for smartphone use, with a 1,280 x 720-pixel HD resolution and a 267 pixel density, CNet is reporting today.

What’s the point of a bendy smartphone? 


Image via Shutterstock

For starters, a flexible, bendable phone isn’t likely to crack or shatter – a frequent side effect of rough handling with a smartphone or tablet. There’s also the possibility that flexing the phone could be a new kind of navigation method.

In the future, the bendy screen technology may lead to screens that can be rolled up. It’s not difficult to foresee a large screen, coupled with Internet connectivity, that could be rolled and stored in a briefcase or a tote bag, allowing people to bring personal data devices with large monitors anywhere they require them. Add a little more imagination to the flexible screen idea and foresee a future with clothes and other textiles literally “imprinted” with video screens.

Many of these new ideas for flexible screens are based on “E-ink” displays, which can be programmed to react in different ways when the screen is flexed.

Samsung is certainly forward-thinking here, but they’re not pioneers in this technology. Competitors LG and Nokia also recently demonstrated bendy screen prototypes for smartphones and tablets.