SM-G900S shows up in benchmark with 2k display, could be Galaxy S5 or Galaxy Round 2

There have been a lot of rumors making the rounds about the Galaxy S5, but now we finally have what we could consider concrete details on Samsung’s next flagship, including a model number and a few of its specs. A device with model number SM-G900S has made an appearance on GFXBench – the model number suggests it could be the Galaxy Round’s successor, but what reduces the chances of that being the case is the hardware listed in the benchmark.

Galaxy Round unofficially available in the US and Australia

The Galaxy Round is currently available only in South Korea, as Samsung wanted to test the market response to a smartphone with a curved display before launching it worldwide. Well, while that may be the case, it’s often not that difficult to buy such devices in other markets, thanks to third-party retailers and the good old eBay. In the case of the Galaxy Round, it looks like a retailer in the US, and one in Australia, are currently listing the device on their websites.

Curved screen on Samsung Galaxy Round not a gimmick, says DisplayMate

Ever since Samsung announced the Galaxy Round, the world’s first smartphone with a curved ‘flexible’ display, almost everyone has written off the curved screen as a gimmick, saying it doesn’t offer any advantage for the end-consumer. However, the folks over at DisplayMate, who are considered the experts on mobile displays and came away impressed with the Galaxy Note 3′s display, think the curved screen is actually more than a gimmick.

OLED.at believes Samsung Galaxy Round doesn’t feature YOUM display technology

OLED information website OLED.at isn’t sure if Samsung used YOUM display technology inside their first flexible display device, the Galaxy Round. Oled.at says that not a single time Samsung mentioned “YOUM” in their Press Releases. We at SAMMobile HQ have a single Galaxy Round unit but we won’t open it up just to confirm if it uses the YOUM display technology or not. However, we will ask our sources to send us a service manual so we will be able to exactly confirm if this is the case or not. Stay tuned for that!

Samsung files four patents for flexible displays in the US

The Galaxy Round, the world’s first smartphone with a curved ‘flexible’ display, might be a prototype of sorts for Samsung, but it’s no secret that the Korean manufacturer is taking flexible displays seriously. On that front, Samsung has filed four new patents for flexible displays with the US Patent Office. The patents are rather broad in coverage, but it seems like Samsung is developing flexible displays that can be operated in various ways.

Galaxy Round simply a prototype test device, will have limited production even in South Korea

Your plans to score one of Samsung’s Galaxy Round, the world’s first smartphone to feature a flexible display might not work out that well, as according to our insider, Samsung is looking to produce only limited quantities of the device, even in South Korea. It’s apparently a prototype device to test curved OLED displays, similar to devices like the SCH-W850 and the Samsung Galaxy S II HD LTE (SHV-E120S), which were also produced in limited quantities in order to test AMOLED and HD AMOLED displays, respectively.

Galaxy Round’s battery is longer than the iPhone 5s

Samsung’s first smartphone to feature a flexible display, the Galaxy Round hasn’t exactly impressed anyone since it was officially announced, but it sure has people interested in finding out what advantages its curved screen brings to the table. Well, that’s something that’s still a mystery, but while we wait for that mystery to be solved, there’s a nice little unboxing video of the Galaxy Round that is now available online.

Samsung Galaxy Round goes on sale in South Korea this week

Gear up folks, well, at least if you’re in South Korea this week: Samsung’s Galaxy Round, the world’s first smartphone to feature a curved “flexible” display, will go on sale in the country this week. The official price is set at around 1,089,000 won (~$1000) – a steep price, but for a first of its kind device that will (seemingly) kick of the market of “flexible displays”, it was never expected that Samsung would price it sensibly.

Samsung Galaxy Round, a Curved Note 3

Just recently, news broke that the Galaxy Round is being released for sale in Korea. While Samsung can claim that they are the first to create a commercially sold curved AMOLED display, Samsung has made phones with curved displays before, although such curves were achieved through curved glass, not curved displays. Smartphone OEMs are no strangers to curved glass, as such designs were extremely popular in 2012, because it made for no detectable ridge when swiping off of the screen, but came at the cost of increased susceptibility of the glass lens to damage.