Samsung Unveils Galaxy Round, The First Smartphone With Curved Display

Samsung has unpacked its rumored smartphone with a curved OLED display. The Galaxy Round, which will launch on SK Telecom in South Korea, has a 5.7-inch 1080p screen the same size as seen on the company’s Galaxy Note 3, but there’s a difference — it curves on the vertical axis.  The curved display may be slightly more ergonomic and feel more comfortable when the phone is on your face for things like phone calls.

Additionally, Samsung is touting a new feature called “Round Interaction,” which allows you to view information such as missed calls, battery life, as well as the date and time when you tilt it on a flat surface with the screen off.  Samsung also claims that switching between home screens will feel like one continuous transition, and has worked on new tilt- and tap-based interactions for the music and photos apps.

You can see a video demo of “Round Interaction” below:

In terms of specs the Galaxy Round is impressive. It’s 7.9mm thick, weighs in at 154g, and has a 2800mAh battery. The camera is 13 megapixels, like the Galaxy S4 and Note 3, and the phone runs Android 4.3 atop 3GB of RAM and a 2.3GHz quad-core processor. Also, like the Note 3 is sports a USB 3.0 connection. The device will be released tomorrow in “Luxury Brown” for 1.09 million won (about $1,013) with more colors colors coming soon. There are currently no details available for an international launch date.

Would you want a smartphone with a curved display?