Samsung Unveils Youm: Flexible, Bendable OLED Display

Samsung debuted Youm, its flexible, bendable and foldable OLED display for smartphones during CES 2013.

Stephen Woo, president of Samsung and Brian Berkeley, senior vice president of Samsung Display, showcased the new screen technology during the South Korean electronics giant's keynote.

The bendable OLED technology, named Youm, utilizes thin plastic as opposed to glass, subsequently allowing the display to become bendable, flexible, foldable and an almost unbreakable screen. As well as Berkeley displaying a prototype, Microsoft CTO Eric Rudder also showed a prototype Windows Phone with the flexible screen.

"This new form factor will really begin to change how people interact with their devices, opening up new lifestyle possibilities ... and allow our partners to create a whole new ecosystem of devices," said Berkele.

The Galaxy S4 is rumored to be the first Samsung device to feature an unbreakable screen.

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  • zzz_b
    Sorry, but I could not resist: NOW BEND OVER! :)
    Reply
  • warezme
    Haven't they been dragging this tired old thing out at every tech show for the last two years??? Since then, not one product has ever been made to use a bendable screen.
    Reply
  • IndignantSkeptic
    So now we can finally get massive tablets that we can fold to fit in our pockets.
    Reply
  • kcorp2003
    i saw this technology when OLED screens 1st make its way back in 2003.
    Reply
  • adgjlsfhk
    This seems less useful because even if the screen is bendable, can you make a bendable phone?
    Reply
  • IndignantSkeptic
    kcorp2003i saw this technology when OLED screens 1st make its way back in 2003.
    I think you're referring to when the screens couldn't be bent without permanently damaging them. Look at the videos again carefully and you'll see the screens got damaged.
    Reply
  • loneninja
    adgjlsfhkThis seems less useful because even if the screen is bendable, can you make a bendable phone?
    I doubt the goal is to make a flexible screen, the advantage to this screen is it would never break from dropping the phone.
    Reply
  • dosdecarnitas
    could that phone be the new galaxy S4?
    Reply
  • tarzan2001
    adgjlsfhkThis seems less useful because even if the screen is bendable, can you make a bendable phone?
    I think it's more about the screen being able to dissipate the force of impact when dropped so that it doesn't crack, whereas a rigid glass screen absorbs most of the force and cracks.

    (I could be wrong about that. I switched from engineering into medicine because I suck at physics, so don't hate me if my explanation above is way off)! :P
    Reply
  • kewlmunky
    adgjlsfhkThis seems less useful because even if the screen is bendable, can you make a bendable phone?
    Sometime last year, or maybe even in 2011, I believe nokia had a video that Toms did an article on about a bendable device using a bendable screen prototype. It showed gestures for zooming in and out on photos based on concave and convex bending. Also twisting it certain ways had functionality. The only thing they couldn't put in the device was a batter so they had it hooked up to a power source.
    Reply