Samsung holds many patents related to foldable devices and flexible displays, it has built this collection of patents over several years and the company doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon. It was reported late last year that by the end of 2015 Samsung will launch a foldable device to breathe new life in its mobile business but there's no indication as yet that such a product could arrive this year. Perhaps Samsung decided to delay its launch or perhaps it wasn't even in the pipeline to begin with, the fact remains though that Samsung continues to patent technology that will one day make foldable smartphones a reality and one such recent patent has now been discovered.
The patent notes that the folding mechanism of this device is under the display and the flexible OLED display is capable of folding in the middle using an elastic unit that's configured to apply tensile force to the device at unfolded position. The company filed for this patent in February this year and despite the fact it has been granted one can't really say for sure if the company will ever bring this technology to market. It just might though, as we reported exclusively about four months back, Samsung is developing a new foldable smartphone under codename Project Valley.
Project Valley is said to be in the early stages of development so it's unlikely that a commercial release might take place this year, according to what we hear the device will support multiple gestures for switching between two screens and that it's codenamed Project Valley because the phone likely has two sides that fold together and if you hold them apart just so they look like a valley. As previously mentioned it's too soon to say anything for sure right now, nevertheless it certainly would be an interesting year for Samsung fans if the company were to release a foldable smartphone in 2016.
