Motorola’s “adaptive display concept” was on display at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The smartphone can be bent in different ways
Arjun Harpal | CNBC
Transparent screens, phones that wrap around your wrist and expandable displays are all conceptual technologies that gadget makers showed off this week in an attempt to stand out from the competition in the fierce hardware market.
At the world’s largest mobile trade show, the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, some of the world’s biggest companies showed off some unusual display technology. While electronics companies are constantly improving certain aspects of devices, such as battery life and cameras, in recent years the focus has shifted more towards display innovation, particularly with the advent of foldable phones.
Screens have also become a focal point given the increasing amount of stuff on our devices.
Many of the displays at MWC also come from companies looking to build buzz around their products and challenge the likes of Apple and Samsung.
“The sheer dominance of Apple and Samsung in connected devices means that other companies have to go to great lengths to differentiate their products in an attempt to turn consumers’ heads,” Ben Wood, principal analyst at CCS Insight, told CNBC.
“As a result, we’re seeing a proliferation of weird and wonderful new designs like wrist-worn phones, movable screens, virtual 3D displays and more.”
Here are some of the display technologies on display at MWC:
Tecno Expandable Phone
Tecno, a brand under the umbrella of Chinese firm Transsion, which is now one of the biggest smartphone players in the world, has unveiled a phone with an expandable screen.
After pressing a button on the top of the device, the screen zooms to the side.
Called the Tecno Phantom Ultimate, this is a concept device for now and there is no word on whether it will go on sale.
Tecno Phantom Ultimate has an expandable screen display.
A Motorola phone you can wear on your wrist
Motorola showed off a phone at MWC that can bend in a variety of ways.
One use the company is illustrating is how the phone can be twisted to fit your wrist and match outfits.
The smartphone interface adapts depending on the direction the phone is bent.
Motorola’s “adaptive display concept” can wrap around the user’s wrist. The phone can generate a background to match what the user is wearing
Arjun Harpal | CNBC
Lenovo transparent laptop
China’s Lenovo showed a prototype of a laptop with a transparent display.
The company, which is the world’s largest computer maker, showed how an object can be placed behind the screen and detected by the device’s cameras. The object information will be displayed on the screen.
Lenovo’s concept laptop has a transparent screen.
Arjun Harpal | CNBC
ZTE’s glasses-free 3D tablet
ZTE showed off a second-generation tablet that displays three-dimensional images. Typically, 3D images require some kind of glasses to view, as is the case with 3D movies in theaters.
But this screen creates a 3D image without glasses.
When CNBC saw the device, the quality of the 3D image depends on the angle from which you view the screen.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/28/mwc-2024-gadget-makers-show-off-bendable-and-expandable-screens.html
