Samsung Escalating Plans for Flexible AMOLED Screen
Flexible display could be arriving next year.
With the product delayed from its original 2012 release, Samsung seems to be escalating production plans for its flexible AMOLED screen. An anonymous source told the Wall Street Journal that the screen has approached its final stage of development at Samsung Display. The South Korean conglomerate hopes to release the product by mid-2013.
Samsung showcased footage of the technology last December, with a release originally expected to offer consumers the flexible screens during the latter stages of 2012. The prototype screens the firm has showcased thus far are made from plastic instead of glass. As a result, the product is able to deliver an extremely flexible and durable display.
No company has been able to mass produce the displays, but the Wall Street Journal suggests that Samsung's ability to invest heavily in the R&D of the flexible screens derives from recent profit stemming from its electronics division. The technology giant had made a record profit of $7.4 billion.

Maybe the Galaxy s5 will be a flexible device. But honestly I dont know how practical this will be, it all depends on their implementation. Well, atleast they are trying something different and if they are putting their weight behind it so much, it must be something good. Kudos Samsung.
But they can be used in more creative ways, outside the world of phones and tablets.
In the meantime, they will greatly improve the resilience of screens. No more broken screen from a mere drop.
False.
Carbon nanotubes along with methods of production/integration were patented back in 1992.
Same thing with synthetic diamonds in 1996.
We already knew back then about flexible displays and paper thin computers from these 2 materials alone.
Technologically and resource wise, it was possible to accomplish with ludicrous technological efficiency by the year 2000 at the latest.
Is it 'cheap' to do however?
Nope.
Commercial companies are looking for 'cost efficient' (read 'cheap') ways to bring technology to the market and PROFIT from it in the long run.
Why rush if you can milk outdated materials, technology and means of production?
That however has NOTHING to do with our technological ability to do something in a sustainable and efficient capacity.
Don't let Apple see that! Probably filing a patent for it at this very moment.
I don't know if you can make flexible chips, batteries, memory, etc ... out of these materials but you still won't see a flexible phone or tablet anytime soon.
That is very true of course.
Those screens are not transparent. But Samsung has the technology to make transparent screens. I heard they could make a screen with multiple transparent screens overlaping each other to give a depth effect.
Are they capable of making flexible transparent screen ? No but I am pretty sure they are working on it.
Oh its possible. These kinds of applications (not to mention others) were known to us for some time now.
They can even be done from the inefficient materials we use today - but its a cost prohibitive process, and companies are in this to MAKE profits.
We have ample supply of resources (and the technology/means) to do it, but 'profit margins' don't allow fast adoption of these technologies due to the above mentioned reasons.
By comparison, commercial companies like Intel have already developed technology they will release in 10 to 15 years and could have created insanely small and powerful electronic hardware in the year 2000 using existing materials.
Now imagine what could have been done if we used superior synthetic materials that can be produced in abundance and we used them to create the BEST of what is possible from a technological point of view (in line with our latest scientific knowledge) and efficiency.
Simply speaking, commercial technology is about 60 to 100 years (if not more) behind of our scientific knowledge (that can be applied in practice, in abundance, efficiently and in a sustainable manner).
Capitalism on the other hand simply doesn't work like that.
This is why I CRINGE when I hear people say that new products coming out every 12 to 24 months are 'innovative'.
They are anything but.