Samsung reportedly debating foldable phone form factor and the S10’s headphone jack

Samsung’s foldable phone has been floating around the company under the codename “Winner” for some time now. That bit of info isn’t new. It’s understandably taken the company a while to get the thing just right.

After all, we’re talking a new paradigm here in terms of form factor. It’s an exciting process, indeed — and a code a LOT of companies have been trying to crack. According to a new report from Bloomberg, however, some of the heel dragging with regard to decision making on that front is really coming down to the wire here.

The Samsung Developer Conference, happening next month in San Francisco, could be the big debut for the long-awaited product. From the sound of the report, however, we’re going to see little more than a “conceptual image” of the product, rather than a retail device or even prototype.

That means, of course, that we can probably rule out any possibility that the company is going to attempt to jam this thing out for the holidays. The unveil would be more of a check in to let the world know that the product is, indeed, still in the works, and big innovation is just around the corner. Winners don’t just happen overnight, you know.

Screen orientation is reportedly a sticking point here, with the company ultimately opting for a design that opens like an old school flip phone. Samsung is said to be working with Google on a custom version of Android that can handle the new design language — similar to what LG did with Android wear on its new hybrid watch. There are also some concerns around mass production. The phrase “The screen, when it cracks, shatters like dried paper” doesn’t really instill a lot of confidence here.

As reported earlier, Samsung’s next flagship, the S10 will sport an in-screen fingerprint reader (a similar feature is also coming on the soon to launch OnePlus 6T). More surprisingly, the company is also “toying” with dropping the headphone jack on the device. While it’s true the decision feels like an inevitability, Samsung has roundly mocked Apple’s decision for years now.

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