This Smartphone Is Basically A Slap Bracelet

Hold up — the slap bracelet of your youth is making a major 21st-century comeback. Imagine taking your smartphone, slapping it around your wrist, and then heading out the door. Crazy? Yes. Real? Very soon. According to Bloomberg, the startup Moxi Group has created a rollable touchscreen phone that will be available in China later this year for $765. It will be the first commercially available phone with a bendable, flexible screen. The phone is able to bend thanks to graphene, a super-strong, conductive, and flexible material that can be used to make rubber more elastic, among other uses. This phone builds on developments Samsung made back in 2014, when it found a way to produce graphene on a mass-market scale. This Moxi phone, however, will be the first fully bendable smartphone available for purchase. But it's got one major caveat: To start, the phone will have a black-and-white e-ink display, which is similar to an e-reader's screen. So, while it may be convenient for checking texts and emails, it's not going to be your go-to for Snapchatting or watching videos. With that in mind, experts that spoke to Bloomberg are skeptical that it'll be a success. Regardless, the phone will be a breakthrough and a novelty. The company will consider shipping a version overseas if it ends up doing well in China.