Samsung might release bendable smartphones early next year

Samsung may release two smartphones with bendable OLED screens next year, according to a report in Bloomberg. One model is said to fold in half, while another has a 5-inch display that “unfurls” into a tablet-sized 8-inch panel. The phones may be announced as soon as Mobile World Congress in February.

Bloomberg also corroborates reports that the next Galaxy Note may skip a version number, moving to 7 in order to align with the flagship Galaxy S range. The bendable phones, however, reportedly won’t be Galaxy S models; the initiative is codenamed Project Valley, a name that SamMobile first reported over a year ago. Samsung showed off a rollable OLED screen at SID Display Week in San Francisco last month.

The Project Valley phones could escalate Samsung’s showdown with Apple next year, which is rumored to be shaking up the 2017 iPhone model with a new “bezel-less” design and a switch from LCD to OLED screens. This year’s new iPhone is expected to be cosmetically similar to the 6 and 6S.