Business English vocabulary: Samsung’s foldable phone
This text is about Samsung’s latest mobile phone technology. Some useful phrases are highlighted and explained below. Don’t forget to answer the quiz and leave comments about the discussion questions.
Apple’s dominance of the hi-tech mobile phone market may be over sooner than you think. This year Samsung is set to come out with ‘foldable screens’ which are lighter and smaller than any iPhone. What’s even more interesting is that, in the words of one expert, “they are practically unbreakable”.
The new Samsung ‘bendable phone’ will set a new standard in the mobile device market, just as the iPhone did before it. You can say bye bye to the typical phone frame design with buttons. Instead, you will just have a screen with no border that you can literally wrap around your fingers.
Several internet technology sites have claimed that this groundbreaking technology could be in stores as early as the 3rd quarter of 2012. But the best is yet to come, as in 2013 Samsung will be unveiling a phone which actually folds in half. Just imagine a Nintendo DS but with 1 full screen.
This new advancement is made possible by special screens incorporating AMOLED (Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) technology. In fact, Samsung is the world’s leading manufacturer of these screens. Capable of displaying brighter colours and using substantially less power than a normal LCD (liquid crystal display), the AMOLED ones sound like something from a sci-fi film. Especially as they are wafer-thin.
Samsung may be a long way behind Apple in the Tablet market due to the ‘one stop shop’ that is Apple iTunes but in the mobile phone one it’s a whole different story. A recent article in a leading phone magazine claimed that Samsung sells 3 times as many phones as Apple on account of its cheaper price and Android OS.
Apple was once leading technical innovation in phone and computer hardware but now it just seems content with bringing out newer and more expensive versions of its existing range. Just take a look at the iPhone 4s which wasn’t vastly different to the previous model.
In comparison, Samsung is pushing the envelope. Its Galaxy Note has bridged the gap between phones and tablets and is referred to as a ‘phablet’. Although Apple may have started the ball rolling, Samsung looks like ready to surpass them. Apple just doesn’t seem to have kept up and so will get left behind. In fact, they may become the new Nokia.
Useful Business English Vocabulary
- Dominance
- To be leading or in first position
- To come out with
- To release
- Unbreakable
- Cannot be broken
- Bendable
- Can be folded
- Groundbreaking
- Sth that hasn’t been done before – Extremely innovative
- Unveiling
- Showing to the public
- Wafer-thin
- About as thin as a piece of paper
- Be a long way behind
- To be in a low position far away from the market leader
- One stop shop
- A place where you can buy everything
- A whole different story
- The opposite or completely dissimilar
- OS
- Operating system
- Bringing out
- Releasing to the general public
- Pushing the envelope
- Developing/increasing the limitations of current technology
- Bridged the gap between
- To connect 2 things
- Started the ball rolling
- Began something
- To have kept up
- To maintain their position
- To get left behind
- To be surpassed
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Discussion questions
- Will Samsung foldable phones kill off the iPhone?
- Why isn’t Apple developing this technology?
- What other applications could this technology be used for?
Posted by Phil Wade on Mar 27 2012. Filed under Business English.
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The Samsung foldable phones will revolutionize the communication/technology market once again. The iPhone as we know today will look obsolete, the same way as a mobile with buttons looks nowadays.
Also a huge problem with the iPhone and Android phones is that its battery last just for one day, if you do not overuse it of course. From this article it seems that the new Samsung foldable phone, due to it’s AMOLED screen will save more energy, this is good but not enough.So what the industry should really invest is in the development of new long lasting batteries.
This foldable technology will be very useful to any other gadget that we are attached nowadays as we are always on the move. I would be very happy if this high tech could be applied to the laptops in order to reduce it’s size during the traveling, but able to return to the user friendly dimension when needed.
Hi Sandra,
I totally agree about the iPhone. I have an Android and the battery always runs out, it’s a real problem. Sometimes it goes flat while I’m working so I can’t use it. I don’t see why they can’t have long life batteries.
I also agree about laptops and tablets. Laptops are generally quite big and also not comfortable to use for long periods as they give you neck and backache. For serious computer work a desktop is best but perhaps something inbetween ie a light laptop/tablet that you can connect a keyboard to and use as a desktop. I think I saw an ipad used like that on YouTube. Personally, I don’t find smart phones very productive for internet use and Apple devices just don’t play Flash so there are many sites you can’t use. However, when I’m teaching I think an ipad would be very useful for myself and for every student.
Thanks again and I hope enjoy the next post.
Phil