Image via Samsung Tomorrow
Samsung’s latest smartphone – or phablet, considering its size – features a curved display and new features making use of its concave shape.
The Galaxy Round’s full-HD Super AMOLED display is horizontally concave, curving from side to side, unlike the vertically concave panel by LG Display that went into mass production this week.
In terms of specifications, the Galaxy Round is much like the Galaxy Note 3, with a 5.7-inch 1080p screen, 13MP rear camera, Android 4.3, 3GB RAM and a 2.3GHz quad-core processor. Battery power is lower at 2,800mAh, which seems to have made room to make the Round thinner and lighter than the Note 3.
Like the Note 3, the Galaxy Round features a leather-stitched rear, giving it a luxurious, notebook-like feel.
While Samsung and LG are certainly banking on curved screens capturing an audience, feedback on this first release will show if there are benefits to the user. In the case of the Galaxy Round, the subtle horizontal curve will apparently feel better in the palm of your hand and features have been added to make use of this new shape.
Roll Effect, demonstrated in the video below, allows users to check notifications, battery status and the time by tilting the handset towards them when the screen is off. Gravity Effect will also make use of the this tilt interaction, though further details on this interaction have not been revealed.
Samsung also believes that switching between home screens will feel more fluid with the curved device, and new interactions to control music playback and view photos by slow pressing the sides of the device and tilting left and right have also been added.
The Galaxy Round will launch on SK Telecom in South Korea on 10 October, but there’s no word yet on whether it will see light outside of the manufacturer’s homeland.
All images via Samsung Tomorrow
