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Two little tidbits of Samsung news could combine to become a fabulous new phone. The Korean giant is reportedly working on an even more expensive super-premium phone, possibly called the Samsung Galaxy F — and it’s definitely got one in the works with a curved screen.
The Galaxy F rumour is from Korea’s ET News, which reliably predicted much of the Note 3 and Gear details. It quotes “industry sources” as tipping a new metal-cased Galaxy with the company’s super-powered eight-core chip and an image-stabilised 16-megapixel camera.
As for the curvy screen, that’s direct from the horse’s mouth. “We plan to introduce a smart phone with a curved display in South Korea in October,” DJ Lee, Samsung’s mobile business head of strategic marketing, told Reuters.
I wouldn’t expect that to mean a banana-shaped phone or anything too outlandish. Concept designs from the company (pictured above, and in the video below) have shown screens that bend at about 45 degrees at the very bottom of the phone, curving a little around the bezel at the bottom. Effectively it would increase the overall screen size by putting the navigation buttons on a separate but connected surface of the phone.
Samsung only just unveiled the Note 3, its most potent blower yet, with its mighty 3GB of RAM and 2.3GHz quad-core chip. The 5.7-inch phablet is formidably expensive, at over £600 SIM-free, so could a potential Galaxy F be even pricier? I think it’s unlikely — it would make more sense for it to be the smaller-screened metallic brother, a classier, more compact mobile at a similar price. The curved screen, meanwhile, could be a common feature across the S4, F and Note series.
“A screen that curves around the bezel is a pointless gimmick,” says Radio Free Mobile analyst Richard Windsor, “but history has repeatedly shown that pointless gimmicks sell phones if they are perceived to be cool.”
Would you prefer a metal phone or one with a bendy screen? How much do you think Samsung could realistically charge for a top of the range mobile? Spend some time in the comments, or on our premium Facebook page.
