Samsung unveils Galaxy Round flexi screen phone – but Korea-only for now (bah)

And now for the confirmation, Samsung has launched has launched a smartphone with a curved display screen. The new handset is called the Galaxy Round and for now will only be on sale in Korea.

It sports a 5.7in (14.5cm) AMOLED screen (that makes it the same size as the Galaxy Note 3) whose curvature Samsung says will help consumers check information such as date, time and missed calls when home screen is off, with more ease. You can’t actually bend the phone’s screen, rather as it is curved you can tilt it to put the display on. Samsung calls this the Roll Effect.

Another benefit of the screen is that users can also change music tracks on their phone, while its display is off.

Here’s what the company says on its blog

: “As a result of its unique curved design, users can take advantage of round integration experiences like the Roll Effect.

“That enables the user to check information such as the date, time, missed calls and battery easily when home screen is off, and the Gravity Effect for creating visual interaction with the screen by tilting the device.”

There are ways of employing similar tech to cycle through images and change music tracks without the screen being on too.

The phone itself is 4G LTA-Advanced is made from traditional Samsung plastic and comes in the not that alluring shade of luxury brown.

It runs a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, expandable to 64GB with a microSD , uses the Android 4.3 OS and features a 2,800mAh battery. On board is a 13 mega pixel rear and two mega pixel front cameras.

Expect a worldwide version of the curved screen phone to debut across the world at either CESin january or MWC in February.