Smartphone companies make a host of new launches and announcements every year. Consequently, mobile phones do come in variety all sorts of strange shapes, sizes and features. At present, the foldable design in the global smartphone market is buzzing, and it looks like this race is won by California-based start-up Royole Corporation.

The company has taken lead against tech giants like Lenovo and Samsung by introducing the world’s first commercial foldable smartphone called FlexPai at an event in Beijing. The new smartphone is a combination of mobile phone and tablet with a flexible screen. Disrupting consumers’ traditional concept of a smartphone, the unit can be used either folded or unfolded, giving it the portability of a smartphone plus the screen size of a high-definition tablet. The device will be available via a flash sale in China on 1st November at a starting price of 8,999 Yuan (INR 95,000), the company said.

To Fold or Not to Fold

The FlexPai foldable smartphone is based on Royole’s Flexible+ platform, which can be easily integrated into a variety of products and applications across numerous industries.

“The Royole FlexPai foldable smartphone provides mobile phone users with a revolutionary, different experience compared to traditional phones. It perfectly solves the contradiction between the high-definition large-screen experience and portability, which introduces a whole new dimension to the human-machine interface. The phone’s inherent design will forever change the consumer electronics industry, as well as the way people interact with and perceive their world,” said Dr. Bill Liu, founder and chief executive officer, Royole Corporation.

When unfolded, FlexPai:

• Supports Split-Screen Mode And Multi-Tasking;

• Drag-And-Drop Across Applications, Enabling It To Share Features Just As A Computer Does

• Automatically Adjusts Screen Sizes

• Provides Enjoyable Video-Watching And Gaming Experiences.

When folded, FlexPai :

• Supports Dual Screens With Separate, Simultaneous Operations.

• The Interface On The Primary And Secondary Screens Can Mutually Interact With Each Other, Or Independently Use Different Interfaces Without Interfering With One Another.

• Users Can Also Get Notifications On The Edge Screen Side Bar, Which Can Be Used To Manage Calls, Messages, And Other Notices That May Disturb The Primary And Secondary Screen Usage

Who is Winning The Race?

The battle for the world’s first foldable smartphone got intense with Lenovo, Huawei and Samsung hinting their interest towards the growing phenomenon. In 2016, the Chinese giant Lenovo presented its concepts for foldable phones and foldable tablets in front of the world. There were rumours that the company is planning to release the world’s first foldable tablet anytime soon. According to an ETNews report, Lenovo is working with LG Display on a tablet that will have a 13-inch foldable screen.

On the other hand, Chinese tech major, Huawei chief executive officer Richard Yu confirmed last month that the company is working on a foldable 5g phone. Yu comments came days after Samsung teased a foldable smartphone. Samsung Mobile chief executive officer DJ Koh told CNBC that the company will unveil details of a foldable smartphone later this year.