Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) may make the release of its sixth generation smartphone, the iPhone 6, a memorable one in terms of technology and other details. Among the possible features are sapphire crystal displays, bigger screens (in 4.7 inch and 5.5 inch sizes), a liquidmetal alloy apple symbol, and a 16 nanometer A8 processor. New reports and rumors suggest that Samsung may try to counter with its own splashy new-tech release with the Galaxy S6 in 2015.
As with Apple’s (AAPL) iWatch, many of the rumors likely conflate features that Samsung will actually implement in several different products, over a longer period of time. Flexibility heads many lists of possible Galaxy S6 innovations, ranging from a curved screen to an entire smartphone that is flexible and can be bent out of true without sustaining damage.
A flexible smartphone is definitely on Samsung’s “to do” list, but it is currently uncertain if it will be embodied in the Galaxy S6 or if the South Korean company will “try out” the concept in a less central product first in case it proves to be an unpopular feature. Increased display resolution and an upgraded chipset featuring the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 are much more likely to see the light of day in the flagship phone.
Graphene is a “wonder substance” which thus far has remained tantalizingly just out of the reach of commercial production, but has also represented something of Samsung’s potential answer to Apple’s (AAPL) sapphire revolution. Where Apple is aiming to bring cheap, scratch-proof sapphire crystal to smartphones, its South Korean competitor is pursuing graphene with greater vigor.
Of course, there is still some doubt as to whether graphene will ever be produced in commercial quantities, or at least whether such production will occur within the next few years. However, Samsung claims to have made several important breakthroughs, including a technique for fabricating a large, single-crystal graphene wafer and a way to switch graphene semiconductors on and off without compromising their outstanding electron mobility characteristics.
Some rumors state that the graphene will supplant the current plastic used for Samsung Galaxy shells, but the advanced semiconductor appears to make more sense for internal circuitry. Given that they are flexible, graphene circuits would match up well with a flexible smartphone, since they could be bent, twisted, and so on without breaking or losing function.
