The Nano Tech 2013 trade show ends today and we have to say that there were some interesting things being shown at the event, but it’s what Fujifilm Corp had to offer that got our attention. As you will see from the image below it’s a film that can be used as a vibrating plate, which means that bendable, foldable speakers could become reality and even accompany a Samsung flexible display.

Okay, so we know that Samsung are unlikely to offer a flexible display on their handsets anytime soon, but we have seen the possibilities of this technology during CES when we were treated to iFlex: flexible phone concept and the PaperTab flexible tablet. With Fujifilm also showcasing their latest development (as reported here) it shows that these flexible products are going to become realty much sooner rather than later.

We don’t expect the sound to be that of a traditional speaker, but using a vibrating diaphragm is certainly an ingenious idea and even harder to maintain a good sound with a device that is also flexible. However Fujifilm believe that they have worked around this issue by using a viscoelastic polymer, which will become hard when it hits a range of 20Hz to 20kHz and anything lower will stay flexible.

There’s still more to this technology and will take a lot of fine tuning if and when it makes it to production, but the potential is there.

The iFlex: flexible phone concept looks like another great idea expected in the future with flexible displays, which allow users to bend the device and use it in many angles. The flexible touchscreen has a magnetic lock for the closed position that’s surrounded by a nylon frame, similar to that found in laptops and tablets, giving us many ideas on how this can be used.

This could see the arrival of flexi apps exclusive to this device, and many usage ideas have come from this, with examples highlighting a digital makeup tool, and a bent-over placeholder for conference speakers with certain information displayed on both sides. Christian de Poorter and his design studios are working to evolve this new technology already gathering success from designing technologically advanced products, although the iFlex is a concept, which may not even come to fruition.

By looking at images of the iFlex there are many great uses and one shows the concept phone partially bent, which would allow the phone to stand up aidless for a landscape view that is easy to watch, provided your at the same height, whereas the portrait view is visually better from various angles. Bending it backwards as an alarm clock is also ideal, and turning off the alarm is easy to do with a touch of your hand on the top.

Having a flexible device in your pocket could make your phone more comfortable in transit, although we are unsure whether the back pocket would be ideal. The de Poorter Design Studio aims to use technology to enhance usability and more details on this can be seen on their site through this link. However, do you think the flexible display concept is the next decent step in mobile phone technology?