
Scientists make a touch tablet that rolls and scrolls - Ours90
https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/31/scientists-make-a-prototype-touch-tablet-that-rolls-and-scrolls/
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readcarefully
The actual engineering behind this is neat. The prototype nor demo video
seemed very alluring.

Perhaps someone will take this idea and do something interesting with it. At
the moment I don't see it improving upon the current smartphone.

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giancarlostoro
Yeah what I want is a smart phone that has something similar that I can pull
out more of the screen (or a Tablet) but the line in the middle kind of ruins
it, if there can be a hard to see line in an end product it would be
impressive as hell. I love the idea of having a smartphone and then extending
it into a tablet format to consume video from Netflix or whatever service.
Same with a Tablet, turn a 7 inch tablet to a slightly larger form factor to
see even more detail.

I think one phone manufacturer had a decent idea to have it where you had a
"flip touchscreen phone" but my guess is it hasn't taken off since I rarely
see anything about it since, it's an interesting concept though, not
necessarily wrong.

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ObsoleteNerd
My absolute dream phone is something like the size of the new Samsung Note,
and it would fold out to double the screen size for watching videos, and run
desktop Linux/Win10. I could then use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse like I
can now on Android, and it could be my only device I own.

~~~
kamarg
Sounds like you want the Samsung Galaxy X[0]. If it runs Dex (unclear right
now) you'll get desktop Linux in a foldable phone with bluetooth capabilities.
I believe the screen is going to be 7.3" but not sure if that's unfolded or
folded.

[0] [https://www.techradar.com/news/samsung-galaxy-x-the-story-
of...](https://www.techradar.com/news/samsung-galaxy-x-the-story-of-samsungs-
foldable-phone-so-far)

~~~
ObsoleteNerd
Sounds pretty awesome. I'm keen to see what it ends up being. Not sure why
they would need a curved battery. I'm imagining it like a book, with just a
normal flat battery each side. Maybe they're thinking like a loosely folded
piece of paper before it creases.

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callesgg
When is it okay to say something is engineering vs science?

Personally I would classify this as engineering. Not so sure...

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ddebernardy
I think you'll get as many answers as there are opinions.

FWIW, to me the line in the sand is drawn where you need to build it in a
reasonably cost efficient manner. (Which is to say, most science involves
engineering to some degree. NASA and the LHC need to try to make what they do
fit in some budget at the end of the day.)

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Kludgist
While it's dangerous to make predictions about the future of technology, I
don't foresee any mobile product coming out that isn't "flat." How is anyone
supposed to fit that into a pocket? Even in a purse or messenger bag it would
be unwieldy.

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setr
I'm going to purchase this and make every intern have one, using it to run and
read out information to me, so I can finally start my quest to become a
technomongolian warlord

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amelius
What would be the killer application for this technique?

I don't see the advantages, because the thing is clunkier than a smartphone
and handling it seems odd.

What I want is a smartphone the size of a credit-card, that can project a
bigger screen on a flat surface (e.g. table or sheet of paper).

~~~
gnode
> What I want is a smartphone the size of a credit-card, that can project a
> bigger screen on a flat surface (e.g. table or sheet of paper).

That also sounds very clunky to me. Projection requires a white, yet unlit
surface to work well. People are unlikely to have one of these handy while out
and about. Added to which, it makes touch control impractical, except in the
case of back-projection.

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bookofjoe
What I want is a smartphone the size of a credit card that can project any
size virtual screen anywhere in any direction—no surface required.

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agitator
The technology is cool, and I can see the flexible displays being used for
putting displays on oddly shaped surfaces, and for other applications where
you have somewhere a screen can roll into.

But the concept video feels like an April fools joke, or something you would
see from the 90s before they came up with better UX. It just doesn't seem as
useable or robust as a simple flat surface. Perhaps this technology will allow
phones to be even thinner.

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metalrain
Reminds me of N-Gage, innovation that wasn't quite there. I'm wondering how
would touching upper part of screen feel like, is it too flappy?

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xtiansimon
Still waiting for Caprica Paper

[http://www.inventinginteractive.com/2010/02/25/caprica-
paper...](http://www.inventinginteractive.com/2010/02/25/caprica-paper/)

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woodandsteel
Interesting, but how do you carry it? It's too big for your pocket, will it
have a strap so you can hang it from your shoulder, or what?

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senyan
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oieoQYlchMg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oieoQYlchMg)

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jelder
That's it, they've finally found it: the worlds worst form factor.

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dang
"Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A
good critical comment teaches us something."

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

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da_murvel
Since when is 'iPad' the generic word for tablets?

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arteez
That's the video's fault, the article refers to it properly. Also I think it's
fair to say that for some time iPad was pretty much the only usable tablet, so
it just became synonymous

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da_murvel
Yeah, I should have been more clear in my previous comment about that. But I
just think it's strange logic. Like, no one is using 'Android' referring to
any smartphone, or 'Toyota' when talking about cars, just because they have
the largest shares within their fields.

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arteez
I don't know enough about tablet sale history, but I am under the impression
that a few years back iPad was really the only tablet device embracing the
format strengths you could get, and the sales hugely reflected that. Android
equivalents were just larger smartphones.

As for the logic part, I think it's not as uncommon -> q-tips are just a brand
of cotton swabs, hoovers are just vacuum cleaners etc.

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picsao
Wasn't there a fiber that stiffens under load?

