CES 2013: Samsung shows off Youm flexible displays

Samsung today showed off its OLED Youm flexible displays at its second CES keynote. Brian Berkeley, Samsung Electronics senior vice president of their display lab, took to the stage to talk about the company’s Youm technology which allows displays to be able to be bent, rolled and even folded. Underlying how far this technology still has to go before we see it in our devices, there was more talk of concepts and the promise of what flexible displays can offer than actual devices.

Samsung did show off a smartphone prototype with a 5-inch display that wrapped around the sides. The idea is that short messages (like an SMS) and notifications could be displayed on the side. Nokia also presented a similar concept, the Nokia GEM, last year.

Samsung flexible display
Credit: CNET

Other screens were on display, further emphasizing the promise of this technology:

Samsung flexible display
Credit: CNET

Samsung has been working on flexible displays for at least a couple of years now. Samsung introduced the Youm brand name last year. Back in December 2011, it released a video showing its vision for the technology:

We may have to be patient a while longer but flexible displays do look to be on their way to a variety of devices.

Read more: CNET