As expected, Samsung has officially introduced the Galaxy Round, a smartphone based on the company's flexible plastic display that allows the phone to sport a slight curve from left to right. The device is launching in South Korea via SK Telecom on October 10 in "Luxury Brown" for 1.09 million won, or roughly $1,000 USD.
According to the specs, the Galaxy Round features a 5.7 inch 1080p Super AMOLED display powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 (MSM 8974) SoC clocked at 2.3 GHz, 3 GB of RAM and a 2800 mAh battery. The device also provides 32 GB of internal storage, and a microSD card slot for up to 64 GB of additional storage.
Additional specs include Wireless N, WiFi Direct and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, NFC, USB 3.0, GPS+GLONAS, and Samsung KNOX, making this device Enterprise-ready. The device is 7.9 mm thick, weighs 0.34 pounds, and includes a 13MP camera on the leather-and-stitch designed back. Google's Android 4.3 "Jelly Bean" is the OS of choice.
Samsung reports that the curved form factor enables features like Roll Effect, which allows the user to check information such as the date, time, missed calls and battery easily when home screen is off (see video below). There's also Gravity Effect that enables visual interactions with the screen by tilting the device, and Bounce UX for users to easily control their music.
"When the Galaxy Round’s display is off while the music player is running, a short press to the left of the device will play the previous track while a short press to the right will play the next track," the company reports on its Samsung Tomorrow blog. "For pictures and videos, the Side Mirror feature enables users to gain access to list of the album content with a left and right tilt."
The new form factor allows users to place their most desired controls closer to a preferred side of the screen. There's also Multi Windows, a feature that enables users to open more than one app on the screen. Thus Galaxy Round owners can run simultaneous multiple instances of the same application, or share content between apps.
Samsung didn't say when of it the phone will be sold outside South Korea, but did confirm that additional colors will be offered soon. Samsung provides an additional "hands-on" report here.
Images: Samsung Tomorrow
