Innovation of the week: Phones and tablets with flexible displays

"Technology that allows phones and tablets to bend — by design — is taking its first steps into the market," said Samuel Burke at CNN Money. Chicago-based startup Polyera has spent the past decade researching flexible display screens, and next year it expects to launch one of the first truly bendable electronic devices: the Wove Band.

The band is "a long, rectangular display that you can curve around your wrist like a snap bracelet"; tap your finger on the screen and it will bring up email, headlines, or weather forecasts. "Even if the Wove Band doesn't take off, the technology is promising." The flexible display market is expected to be worth nearly $4 billion by 2020, according to research firm MarketsAndMarkets, and companies including Samsung and LG have already released smartphones with curved screens. Apple received a patent for a "flexible electronic device" earlier this year.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up