Samsung reveals first foldable phone: a tablet and a smartphone in one

San Francisco had a field day as Samsung announced the next revolution in the smartphone market that will make everyone wonder if a two-in-one foldable phone works.

Samsung's Senior Vice President of Mobile Product Marketing Justin Denison unveiled the company's upcoming foldable smartphone with the Infinity Flex Display in San Francisco at its fifth annual developers' conference.

The device is a phone built for one-handed usage when closed that unfolds into a large display converting it into a small tablet. Samsung calls the smaller screen the "cover display", which is smaller than a standard large-display smartphone. The idea is that since the "large" tablet display can only be used in the full-size mode, the secondary display is for regular smartphone functions.

The foldable phone was not shown in entirety to the public and the demo device was camouflaged to disguise the actual industrial design. Sources say that the device is pretty much ready for a commercial rollout, and Samsung may have the phone out in the next few months.

CNET reports that the foldable phone will run up to three apps at a time on what Samsung is calling the 'Multi-Active Window'.

Samsung revealed display specs for its upcoming foldable phone. When folded, the screen is 4.5 inches with a resolution of 840 x 1960, an aspect ratio of 21:9, and a screen density of 420 dpi with smallest screen width of 320 dp.

While the device's pixel density is a standard 420 ppi that is smaller when compared to other phones but is functional. The resolution stands at 1536 x 2152 when unfolded. The folded phone version with an aspect ratio of 21:9 would make it pretty much the tallest device on the market and might not be the greatest screen for game-playing or video viewing.

The unfolded tablet version is clearly the primary mode for those types of activities, as it has a more standard 4.2:3 aspect ratio and a screen size of 7.3 inches.

While Samsung's new foldable phone is clearly a huge step in this market, Royole FlexPai beat it to the finish line. This phone-tablet hybrid with a flexible screen is already available for developers in China and is expected to be ready for consumers by December through Chinese carrier China Mobile.

Gartner says that the smartphone market in India is more than 300 million. Going by recent consumer behaviour, a lot of Indians will definitely be gearing up to buy a foldable phone. Now that Samsung has stepped up its game, it's time for Apple, OnePlus and the other players to follow suit.