TCL's sliding-screen concept phone By CNET

TCL made a phone with a sliding screen: here's a rendered version of it. The company did show us some video of a real-life working model. Unfortunately, we can't show you that we tried to keep in mind. This render is a little more slick than the real-life version we saw. First, it starts off like a regular phone. You get the nice big screen and a front facing camera set up like you'd expect, but what, if you want a bigger screen, no problem with a gesture, the screens right edge moves outward on the left side, more screen unfurls.

We got to spend some time with TCL talking about the slider. Unfortunately, the working model was stuck in China while we are in the States. However, we've got to play with a dummy unit to get a feel for the device. Now originally the TCL slider would have been shown off at Mobile, World Congress. The event was canceled due to concerns regarding Covey 219.

Then the phone was going to be shipped to the States for a briefing boat 19 stopped this from happening as well. Now the working model has a motor to extend the screen due to the fragile nature of the screen. Making it manual could be problematic. The dummy unit we got to play with had no such motor as I was opening and closing the device by hand. I can see the top of what would be the screen crinkling a little.

A motorized version definitely makes sense, unlike other flexible phones. The TCL slider screen is kind of like a scroll. That means when the device is extended, the screen is held taut. There was no crease or bend necessary because the screen would be rolled up in the left part of the phone that would take care of a problematic part of folding phones. You shouldn't be seeing a crease on the display.

That's kind of great this design brings up a lot of questions, though. What, if there's material on the screen when it's retracting, will it cause scratches? Would there be brushes to dust away debris? How resilient is that flexible screen? How long could a motorised screen assembly work, adding in any moving elements, creates another point of failure. Also, there's a slider phone have anything to offer in the real world. The concept is undoubtedly cool. The slider goes from a large phone to either a slightly larger phone or a tiny tablet.

The full screen size is a size of an iPad Mini at the size we saw. Maybe the slider has some limitations in the real world. However, if a company could pack in even more screen in that form factor that could be very useful. So what is TCL trying to do at all? What's going on, TCL is trying to show off what it can do with its display technologies. The company has gained some notoriety in the US with its Roku televisions.

The company is not exactly new to phones either. It has made phones under other brands like Alcatel and blackberry. As an aside, TCL stopped making blackberries this year. The company is working to introduce a line of budget Android phones, we're talking 5g phones at under $500. The slider concept might be a way to get attention.

Maybe it's a way to create awareness of the TCL brand plus the company could be gauging interest in such a device. Remember this is a concept device. It has no official name. TCL has no official plans to roll this product out hey if you really wanted to check out a're phone check this out. If you've enjoyed this video, please like and subscribe, it helps a lot if you've got any questions, comments or news.

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Source : CNET