Samsung Shows-off 'Youm', Smartphone Prototype with 'Near Unbreakable-Display'

South Korean electronics major Samsung stole the limelight at the second day of the international CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2013 by unveiling a smartphone prototype with a bendable screen technology called 'Youm'.

The new flexible display technology uses extremely thin plastic instead of glass, making the screen bendable and virtually "unbreakable", claimed the company.

"Our team was able to make a high resolution display on extremely thin plastic instead of glass, so it won't break even if it's dropped," said Brian Berkeley, senior vice president of Samsung Display.

He further said, "This new form factor will really begin to change how people interact with their devices, opening up new lifestyle possibilities ... [and] allow our partners to create a whole new ecosystem of devices." 

American software giant Microsoft also shared the podium with Samsung at the unveiling of the Youm display technology. Eric Rudder, Chief technical strategy officer at Microsoft, took the complete ATIV family of devices as an example through which Samsung's component solutions and Windows 8 together present new potential in user interfaces.

Rudder said that Microsoft Research will continue to work on the next-generation of display technologies, enabling new modes of human-computer interaction. 

A similar plastic screen technology was unveiled at the CES. UK based company Plastic Logic unveiled the 'PaperTab', a prototype 10.7-inch paper-thin bendable tablet.

The super-thin flexible tablet was developed by Plastic Logic in collaboration with American processor-chip maker Intel and Canada's Queen's University.

Both the technologies from Samsung and Plastic Logic have opened-up a new frontier in future display screens of smart devices. It remains to be seen as to how soon the companies will be able to bring in their new generation of handsets with bendable display to the market.

Click here to view Samsung's new bendable screen.