Samsung promises that flexible and foldable screens are coming to devices soon, even going so far as to say they’ll arrive in 2016. The company’s latest patent, which was spotted by Patently Mobile, is for a flexible phone that morphs into a smart bangle you can strap onto your wrist. It’s an entirely bizarre and futuristic idea that certainly puts more focus on accessibility than style, but it sure sounds awesome.
The patent features a flexible OLED screen that’s so flexible you can curl it into a bracelet and wear it on your wrist as a smartwatch, or stretch it out flat to use it as a smartphone. The screen can be attached to rotatable segments that allow the device’s shape to contort without destroying any of the less-than-flexible components. Much like the links in a metal watch band, the segments will allow for full flexibility.
The device will be able to control your music, show pictures, make calls, send texts, and perform all the tasks you normally associate with a smartphone or smartwatch. Overall, it sounds like the device is effectively a smartphone that curves to become a smartwatch on your wrist. Of course, the device wouldn’t resemble a watch at all, but rather appear like a huge bangle. Based on the illustrations in the patent, the device looks totally bizarre.
Naturally, the point isn’t really to make the thing attractive, but rather to make it functional, versatile, and accessible, by combining the smartphone and smartwatch into one crazy hybrid gadget. It’s unclear whether Samsung will ever actually make this chameleon of a device, but it’s a possibility. Still, don’t expect to see somebody walking down the street wearing a phone curved around their wrists any time soon.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.