Samsung shows transparent flexible tablet in concept video

Samsung has released a concept video showing what the future of mobile phones and tablets could look like. The clip opens with a ringing phone which is then rolled out and turned into a video conferencing tablet as others look on in amazement.

The remainder of the half minute clip shows potential uses for such a device in multiple scenarios using augmented reality. One scene shows the user snapping a photo of text on a restaurant menu which then shows a 3D image of the dish. Another scene demos a translator app where both participants can speak into the tablet on opposite sides of the transparent screen. The tablet correctly translates and displays the conversation in each user's native language.

The technology in the clip is still several years away but it’s interesting to see how tech companies envision the future. Some aspects, like augmented reality, have been around for several years but have yet to make a huge impact on mobile devices.

Samsung has shown us working prototypes of flexible AMOLED displays earlier this year and Nokia demoed a flexible phone prototype in October.

Although, as impressive as these real-life displays are, creating something like we see in the video from Samsung still presents some challenges as the physical hardware like the processor and memory has to reside somewhere.  Additionally one must wonder how the display would be powered if there are no visible batteries inside the transparent panel.