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Check out the ambitious, unreleased LG Rollable phone in this hands-on video
It seems like it was ready for the prime time
Once one of the biggest Android OEMs in the space, LG failed to keep its phones exciting and appealing to users. Before it pulled out of making smartphones in mid-2021, LG had one last ace up its sleeve: a rollable smartphone. It never actually launched, but someone got their hands on a prototype, so you can at least see how it would've looked if it was released. We've seen a hands-on video before, but new footage of the handset gives us even more detail.
Will Samsung surprise us with a rollable smartphone at its upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event?
It may not be ready to go to market, but it could still surprise us
Innovations are emerging day by day across the consumer electronics space. They may seem mundane to you today, but billions of people are using smartphones on a daily basis, things we could only imagine of decades ago. As if that wasn't mind-blowing enough, foldable smartphones are becoming mainstream, and rollable devices may be just beyond the horizon. A handful of phone brands are now competing to launch the first rollable smartphone and one of them is Samsung. We heard only a quick word this spring of an extra-special device that may get some time in the spotlight this summer, it seems like its first rollable devices could be here sooner than expected. This begs the question — will we get to see a rollable phone at Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event?
Gaze at LG’s rollable phone that could have been in new hands-on video
The prototype appears to be in surprisingly usable condition… sort of
For every new company like Nothing that launches its first phone, it feels like we lose one of the older players in the market, and back in 2021, LG felt compelled to pull the plug on its smartphone business for a bunch of reasons — including some disappointingly low sales. However, shuttering a multi-billion-dollar enterprise isn’t as simple as flipping a light switch, and the company ended up scrapping several in-development prototype phones in the process — selling some of that hardware to employees for dirt-cheap prices. Now, over a year later, one of the very cool-looking LG Rollable prototypes has resurfaced online to show its stuff.
Lucky LG employees can reportedly buy the company's last unreleased phones, including the Rollable
"Lucky" so long as you don't value, like, software support or anything
LG's ignoble exit from the smartphone business made headlines last month. But an international electronics giant doesn't simply flip a switch and exit a market: there were plenty of in-development phones still floating around LG offices and factories when it decided to stop making them. According to one noted leaker, the company is selling off the last Android phones it will ever make straight to its employees.
These are LG's never to be released flagship phones for 2021
The LG Rollable was spotted going through regulatory agencies
Late Sunday evening the final nail was driven into the coffin of LG's smartphone business, when the manufacturer declared it was halting development of all hardware. One of the (many) areas in which LG fell behind was in the cutting edge of foldable phone development, but it did have at least one alternative: a rolling screen. LG showed off its prototype earlier this year, declaring its intention to make and sell it, and apparently sent it to multiple certification agencies for testing.
LG's continued existence in the world of Android is looking less and less certain by the day. Despite hinting at signs of life after its LG Rollable passed through Bluetooth certification last week, new reports suggest that LG might still leave the smartphone industry entirely by shutting down its mobile division altogether.
Say what you will about LG's smartphone division — it's certainly inventive. Hot off the release of the swiveling LG Wing, the company has been teasing a new rollable handset with a planned 2021 release. There were some questions last month on whether the device would actually ship this year, and despite a spokesperson denying rumors surrounding the phone's cancellation, there's been no sure sign of when the Rollable might be available for purchase. Now the handheld has just passed certification from the Bluetooth SIG, hinting that the device might be in our grasp before you know it.
LG's rollable phone may still see the light of day after all
Scrolling on a scroll might still be a possibility
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LG's smartphone division has been in trouble for a while, but that hasn't stopped the company from showing off some crazy new concepts like the Wing, and more recently, the LG Rollable. The latter looked like an incredible device, and was definitely something we were itching to get our hands on. Sadly, despite LG confirming plans to launch the innovative device later this year, new rumors suggest it may have been canceled. After this story was published, an LG spokesperson contacted The Verge to deny rumors of the cancelation, and the article has been updated to reflect this.
The LG Rollable will go on sale in 2021
An LG spokesperson confirmed that we won't have to wait too long for it
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LG isn't making the best-selling smartphones these days, but we have to admit that the South Korean company does have a flair for thinking out of the box, as we've seen with unorthodox models like the LG Wing. While so far we haven't seen any phones with foldable displays like Samsung or Motorola produce, today we're checking out a possible step in that direction with the Rollable concept phone LG just teased at CES 2021.