
Story by
Michael Klurfeld
Michael Klurfeld is a Chicago-based musician and technologist specializing in legal happenings and public policy. You can find him on Twitte Michael Klurfeld is a Chicago-based musician and technologist specializing in legal happenings and public policy. You can find him on Twitter here, or send him an email here.
So you dropped your brick-o’-glass smartphone, the screen is busted, and now you’re stuck with what is more or less a stylish paperweight. It sucks, doesn’t it?
Samsung is set to change all that with its new AMOLED plastic displays, which replace the vinyl protection sheet in today’s AMOLED touchscreens with polymide film. Now keep in mind that we’re talking about the component of the screen that allows touch to act as an input device, not the external glass. If your phone hits concrete, the glass may still break, but the touchscreen will still be working. And thanks to part retail sites like iFixit, you’ll just need to replace the glass rather than the much more expensive and much more difficult to work with digitizer.
Like all good things, these screens will take time to produce. Samsung plans to start shipping them in the next two years. But these things are massively impressive. Check the video below for some insane durability. WARNING: this video is loud.
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