Samsung’s Project Valley may be a dual-screen, foldable smartphone

We’ve been hearing for ages now about Samsung’s plans to release a foldable display, and at one point late last year, it actually went on record to state 2015 would be the year. Sadly the statement was more-or-less retracted some months ago, but there should be little doubt that something is eventually going to materialize. Exactly what it is is now becoming clearer, though unfortunately the specifics, as well as the timeline, are still a mystery.

Sony has already released a dual screen tablet, though with two separate screens.

The folks at Sammobile have obtained information about a new device Samsung is working on, allegedly called “Project Valley”, or “Project V”. Said to be very early in the development timeline, the key feature here is a pair of screens, and specialized gestures to alternate between them. A caveat is given that the product may never see the light of day, let alone a public unveiling, and could be terminated at any time.

Given the nature of the code name, “Project Valley”, there is the obvious implication that the device will fold. The question – or problem rather – is just how advanced such a feature would be. Years ago, Sony released the Sony Tablet P which featured two screens that folded into one larger one. The same was true for the Japan-exclusive NEC Medias W, dual screen smartphone. And let’s not forget the Kyocera Echo, arguably the grandfather of them all.

Still, these devices all used two separate panels to achieve the desired effect. If Samsung is working on something this “rudimentary” it would call into question the logic given that all three of the aforementioned devices fared rather poorly. On the other hand, if Samsung will be developing this prototype as a way to commercialize its foldable AMOLED panels, then there is a lot of potential. Just looking at how the Galaxy Note Edge worked is a great indication of the potential, as said device featured two separate screens fused together into a product that had a very intuitive and unique way of interacting with it.

NEC’s Japan-only Medias W was a smartphone that had two screens, though again they were separate panels.

Assuming something eventually sees the light of day, would you be interested in the prospects of a foldable, dual screen Galaxy smartphone? The Galaxy Gemini perhaps? Maybe HTC would get busy on its patent as well…

Galaxy S6 Edge Iron Man Edition going for a truly intergalactic price

There is a certain sense of irony in Samsung making an official website for a product it only produced 1,000 units of, and which is clearly marked as “Sold Out” already.

Earlier this month Samsung announced plans to release a limited edition run of Iron Man-branded Galaxy S6 Edge units, and despite not having formally launched just yet, we’re already seeing the first units hit Ebay at quite extraordinary prices. As of the time of this writing, of the 7 different auctions for Galaxy S6 Edge Iron Man Limited Edition, the highest is sitting pretty at $7,100, with over 2 days remaining before the auction ends. It needs to be clarified that this isn’t a “value proposition” by any means; said auction has 49 bids on it, which means that barring any potential default on payment, someone will be forking over the better part of 10K, if not more.

Yes that’s right. The current highest priced auction for the S6 Edge Iron Man Edition is going for no less than $7,100. WITH bids.

The high pricing is an example of supply and demand at its finest. The “supply” issue is indeed a problematic one, as there are just 1000 units produced for Korea, and unlike some other limited S6 Edge, the physical product itself is serially numbered. A certain sense of irony is also in place, as given the fact the phone hasn’t shipped yet to these sellers, none of these eager capitalists can know which of the thousand they actually will receive. Just imagine if the current top-dollar auction ends at close to $15,000 and winds up being serially numbered 973. At the very least number 1 (0001) or even 1000 would seek to command much higher price tags. Buyer beware, indeed.

It will be interesting to see what final price these auctions end at, and for that matter, how the pricing scale changes when the device launches next month in additional Asian territories. How much would you be willing to pay for such a limited edition item?

Samsung is developing denser batteries and slimmer camera sensors, to be released by 2017

Samsung has just announced its plans to develop “denser” batteries and thinner camera sensors that will supposedly make their way to smartphones by the year 2017. While that may seem quite far off, the wait will likely be worth it. If Samsung accomplishes what it wants to with these plans, smartphones and individual camera and battery components produced by the company will be much thinner and more efficient.

Samsung’s current battery tech has an energy density of 700Wh/l (Watt-hours per liter), and it expects that number to increase to 750Wh/l by the end of 2016, and to 780Wh/l by the end of 2017. Of course, this means batteries with the same capacities will be much thinner with this increased energy density, allowing the company to produce thinner devices without the need to skimp on battery capacity.

The voltage of the battery is also slated to get an increase, with the company hoping to reach a voltage of 4.40V in the next few months, and a voltage of 4.5 volts by 2017. Samsung is also working to improve its fast charging technology, and hopes for its batteries to charge up to 80 percent in just 30 minutes by the end of that year, as well. 

On the camera side of things, Samsung expects its upcoming sensors to feature a smaller pixel size, from 1.12 microns down to just 1 micron. This would result in a 23 percent decrease in thickness from 6.5mm to 5mm for a 16MP sensor and from 5.2mm to 4.5mm for a 13MP sensor. It’s possible that Samsung is risking quality when it comes to shrinking its pixel size, though this certainly isn’t a new idea. Both Sony and Nokia use a process called “pixel binning” in their higher-end cameras, which is a process Samsung could also adopt for its new sensors.

Lastly, the company is also working on a new RWB camera sensor for smartphones. RWB stands for ‘red white blue’, which Samsung hopes will provide “better color fidelity” in photos.

The year 2017 seems pretty far off, but the details Samsung has just laid out will absolutely take some time to develop. If Samsung can bring these ideas into fruition in the next few years, we’re going to see major progress in battery capacity and camera sensors on smartphones.