5 ms·

Without the bezels, all our phones will look the same. We'll be holding a slab of pixels with some OS, with some voice-activated assistent, with some apps. More

by neals 10y ago

Without the bezels, all our phones will look the same. We'll be holding a slab of pixels with some OS, with some voice-activated assistent, with some apps. More or less the same. Even more so than now.

masklinn 10y ago
LGTM, ship it.
kbody 10y ago
Personally, I'm more function over form so and I can't imagine having a bezel-less phone that won't be a nightmare to use (using one hand).
- JoelBennett 10y ago
  That's what I wonder about as well. I suppose with some smarts, it might be possible to ignore touches along the edge when it is held a certain way, but why unnecessarily complicate things? Even a 4 mm bezel would be fine.
- inlineint 10y ago
  I think machine learning can be employed to filter out accidental touches from the meaningful ones. It is already done in iPad Pro that allows to use Apple Pencil while holding your hand on the screen, and still detects meaningful touches.
  - jafingi 10y ago
    Apple also implemented the same feature when the iPad mini (2012) came out [1] [1] http://www.imore.com/ipad-mini-has-advanced-software-detect-unintended-touches-around-screens-bezel http://www.imore.com/ipad-mini-has-advanced-software-detect-...
  - semi-extrinsic 10y ago
    s/machine learning/bunch of if-then-else statements/
- yoz-y 10y ago
  One way to do so is to make the UI in a way that it does not have anything actionable on the bezels. Kind of a "virtual" bezel.
  - dogma1138 10y ago
    Then honestly what's the point? You are going to sacrifice structural integrity and add cost and complexity. A virtual bezel is about as "useful" as using virtual buttons on an Android device that has physical capacitive buttons, I never understood why people do that.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - canuckintime 10y ago
      Why have whitespace in design? (Because it's aesthetically beautiful that's why which contributes to easier to read i.e. function) Pro tip: Apple had been using software to analyze unintended edge touches and reduce the impact of thinner bezels since the first iPad mini. You'll get used to a non bezels pretty quickly (and Android is better for one-handed use than iOS)
    - jonknee 10y ago
      > Then honestly what's the point? You are going to sacrifice structural integrity and add cost and complexity. You get a big screen in a smaller form factor. Photos/videos will look great without a large bezel and it will fit better in your pocket.
    - khedoros1 10y ago
      Displaying information. A couple millimeters at the edge of the screen acting as display-only won't make much difference to your interaction, but you'dd be able to fit a larger display into a smaller chassis. That sounds like a win to me.
- serg_chernata 10y ago
  I'm not a fan either but Galaxy S Edge is quite popular and I think it has sides that are far more prone to unintended interactions. Yet, I never hear of anyone having that issue.
  - romanhn 10y ago
    I have the Edge and frankly i hate this gimmick precisely for that reason. Never used cases on my previous phones, but will be looking for one this time. Love the extra large battery though, so it's not all bad.
  - taivokasper 10y ago
    I am having that issue with Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. Whenever the screen is unresponsive it is because you are accidentally touching some part of the screen with your palm.
  - skykooler 10y ago
    Man, the Edge would be a great phone to run Sailfish OS on with the swipes that it uses.
  - aedron 10y ago
    I have an S6 edge and I regret that purchase pretty much every day, specifically because i can't pick up the phone without causing a touch event somehow. Love the design though, so if they just made the side edges touch-free I would be happy.
- mhurron 10y ago
  First thing I do with any phone is put it in a case. Bezel-less is irrelevant to me, I'm going to put one in place. 'Thinnest phone ever' is similarly meaningless to me for the same reasons. I don't want a phone that feels like I'm going to snap it in half simply by using it.
  - semi-extrinsic 10y ago
    iPhone user? Because I've never had the need to put a case on any of my Android phones, including me and my wife's $150 Moto G3s that get thrown around by our kids. And I do get quite some amusement out of a product praised for it's premium design, materials and svelte features always being carried in a thick ugly plastic/silicon bumper case by essentially everyone.
    - ksk 10y ago
      That's a moot point seeing as there is a large demand for cases for all kinds of smartphones. Most people I know use a case. Last time I checked, it was something like >50% of all smartphone users.
    - mhurron 10y ago
      > iPhone user? Because I've never had the need to put a case on any of my Android phones I've had both, and cases go on both. > product praised for it's premium design, materials and svelte features Pretty sure I just said the svelte part meant nothing to me. I also really don't give a damn about the design of the phone beyond its size, I care about it's features and using it.
    - Florin_Andrei 10y ago
      > I've never had the need to put a case on any of my Android phones Me neither, but some people just manage somehow to smash a lot of phones at a record pace. No idea how they do it. There's a market for phone bumpers, and there's a reason for it.
      - vacri 10y ago
- fumar 10y ago
  I had the Galaxy Note 7, an almost bezel-less phone, and did not encounter any issue with accidental touches. I expect bezels to continue diminishing. This will help create easier to hold devices (smaller) while keeping healthy sized screens (5").
danarmak 10y ago
Unless someone gets a design patent on "rounded rectangle without bezels".
- neals 10y ago
  a circular bezelless phone, one a little chain, in my pocket. I want one.
  - canuckintime 10y ago
    I hope you backed runcible: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/runcible-circular-open-source-anti-smartphone-camera-tablet#/ https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/runcible-circular-open-so...
  - my_ghola 10y ago
    Circular bezelless phone, on a strap, in my wrist. Oh wait.
mrmrben 10y ago
Once we went to slabs with the original iPhone all our phones have generally looked the same. Thus this already happened.
- tluyben2 10y ago
  That is less true in the west for now I think; I see enough difference in phones to recognize the different brands from a distance; however in China, it seems that all 'local' brands (most of which you never heard of) are all just making identically looking phones, mostly mirrored after the iPhone 6+/7+. With some interesting exceptions, I cannot really see the difference even from closer up with, outwardly, the same materials, same buttons in the same locations etc. It becomes even harder to see when people have a case around their phone. Not sure if it is fundamentally a bad thing; it'll push prices down and manufacturers who want to distinguish will try other forms. Like I said before, and some here seem to agree, please experiment with more battery, focusing less on the size or speed. At the electronics fair in Hong Kong last week a friend gave me a tablet which is so cheap that if you drop it you wouldn't even pick it up but just get a new one (his words, not mine) and it is fast enough for me to browse, play some games, chat and have fine battery life. More battery life for this that kind of thing matters to me personally more than screen size/resolution or speed as the latter is more than enough for most people anyway but at the same time people complain mostly about battery life.
- simplexion 10y ago
  "Once we went to slabs with the original LG Prada all our phones have generally looked the same."
miguelrochefort 10y ago
And this is when real hardware differentiation will become mainstream: - Smart watches - Smart clothes - Smart earphones - IoT - Drones - Handheld tricorder-like devices - Ambient displays - AR headsets
draw_down 10y ago
So much the better. To some degree people treat their choice of device as a personal statement and I think we could all stand to move past that.
pweissbrod 10y ago
What is the problem with that? If the sole purpose of a bezel becomes a place for displaying the logo of a maker or carrier, screw that I'll only consider phones without the wasted space. I dont think you still get cool points anymore for showing everyone you have an iphone
plainOldText 10y ago
Hence why UI design should be given extreme consideration. I think the winners will be those who will craft the most magical user experiences.
shostack 10y ago
We won't be holding it. It will be in our pocket for many interactions. We'll have mini versions of one or two wireless earbuds/mic connected directly to the assistant.

by neals 10y ago

masklinn 10y ago

LGTM, ship it.

kbody 10y ago

Personally, I'm more function over form so and I can't imagine having a bezel-less phone that won't be a nightmare to use (using one hand).

JoelBennett 10y ago
That's what I wonder about as well. I suppose with some smarts, it might be possible to ignore touches along the edge when it is held a certain way, but why unnecessarily complicate things? Even a 4 mm bezel would be fine.
inlineint 10y ago
I think machine learning can be employed to filter out accidental touches from the meaningful ones. It is already done in iPad Pro that allows to use Apple Pencil while holding your hand on the screen, and still detects meaningful touches.
- jafingi 10y ago
  Apple also implemented the same feature when the iPad mini (2012) came out [1] [1] http://www.imore.com/ipad-mini-has-advanced-software-detect-unintended-touches-around-screens-bezel http://www.imore.com/ipad-mini-has-advanced-software-detect-...
- semi-extrinsic 10y ago
  s/machine learning/bunch of if-then-else statements/
yoz-y 10y ago
One way to do so is to make the UI in a way that it does not have anything actionable on the bezels. Kind of a "virtual" bezel.
- dogma1138 10y ago
  Then honestly what's the point? You are going to sacrifice structural integrity and add cost and complexity. A virtual bezel is about as "useful" as using virtual buttons on an Android device that has physical capacitive buttons, I never understood why people do that.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - canuckintime 10y ago
    Why have whitespace in design? (Because it's aesthetically beautiful that's why which contributes to easier to read i.e. function) Pro tip: Apple had been using software to analyze unintended edge touches and reduce the impact of thinner bezels since the first iPad mini. You'll get used to a non bezels pretty quickly (and Android is better for one-handed use than iOS)
  - jonknee 10y ago
    > Then honestly what's the point? You are going to sacrifice structural integrity and add cost and complexity. You get a big screen in a smaller form factor. Photos/videos will look great without a large bezel and it will fit better in your pocket.
  - khedoros1 10y ago
    Displaying information. A couple millimeters at the edge of the screen acting as display-only won't make much difference to your interaction, but you'dd be able to fit a larger display into a smaller chassis. That sounds like a win to me.
serg_chernata 10y ago
I'm not a fan either but Galaxy S Edge is quite popular and I think it has sides that are far more prone to unintended interactions. Yet, I never hear of anyone having that issue.
- romanhn 10y ago
  I have the Edge and frankly i hate this gimmick precisely for that reason. Never used cases on my previous phones, but will be looking for one this time. Love the extra large battery though, so it's not all bad.
- taivokasper 10y ago
  I am having that issue with Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. Whenever the screen is unresponsive it is because you are accidentally touching some part of the screen with your palm.
- skykooler 10y ago
  Man, the Edge would be a great phone to run Sailfish OS on with the swipes that it uses.
- aedron 10y ago
  I have an S6 edge and I regret that purchase pretty much every day, specifically because i can't pick up the phone without causing a touch event somehow. Love the design though, so if they just made the side edges touch-free I would be happy.
mhurron 10y ago
First thing I do with any phone is put it in a case. Bezel-less is irrelevant to me, I'm going to put one in place. 'Thinnest phone ever' is similarly meaningless to me for the same reasons. I don't want a phone that feels like I'm going to snap it in half simply by using it.
- semi-extrinsic 10y ago
  iPhone user? Because I've never had the need to put a case on any of my Android phones, including me and my wife's $150 Moto G3s that get thrown around by our kids. And I do get quite some amusement out of a product praised for it's premium design, materials and svelte features always being carried in a thick ugly plastic/silicon bumper case by essentially everyone.
  - ksk 10y ago
    That's a moot point seeing as there is a large demand for cases for all kinds of smartphones. Most people I know use a case. Last time I checked, it was something like >50% of all smartphone users.
  - mhurron 10y ago
    > iPhone user? Because I've never had the need to put a case on any of my Android phones I've had both, and cases go on both. > product praised for it's premium design, materials and svelte features Pretty sure I just said the svelte part meant nothing to me. I also really don't give a damn about the design of the phone beyond its size, I care about it's features and using it.
  - Florin_Andrei 10y ago
    > I've never had the need to put a case on any of my Android phones Me neither, but some people just manage somehow to smash a lot of phones at a record pace. No idea how they do it. There's a market for phone bumpers, and there's a reason for it.
    - vacri 10y ago
fumar 10y ago
I had the Galaxy Note 7, an almost bezel-less phone, and did not encounter any issue with accidental touches. I expect bezels to continue diminishing. This will help create easier to hold devices (smaller) while keeping healthy sized screens (5").

danarmak 10y ago

Unless someone gets a design patent on "rounded rectangle without bezels".

neals 10y ago
a circular bezelless phone, one a little chain, in my pocket. I want one.
- canuckintime 10y ago
  I hope you backed runcible: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/runcible-circular-open-source-anti-smartphone-camera-tablet#/ https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/runcible-circular-open-so...
- my_ghola 10y ago
  Circular bezelless phone, on a strap, in my wrist. Oh wait.

mrmrben 10y ago

Once we went to slabs with the original iPhone all our phones have generally looked the same. Thus this already happened.

tluyben2 10y ago
That is less true in the west for now I think; I see enough difference in phones to recognize the different brands from a distance; however in China, it seems that all 'local' brands (most of which you never heard of) are all just making identically looking phones, mostly mirrored after the iPhone 6+/7+. With some interesting exceptions, I cannot really see the difference even from closer up with, outwardly, the same materials, same buttons in the same locations etc. It becomes even harder to see when people have a case around their phone. Not sure if it is fundamentally a bad thing; it'll push prices down and manufacturers who want to distinguish will try other forms. Like I said before, and some here seem to agree, please experiment with more battery, focusing less on the size or speed. At the electronics fair in Hong Kong last week a friend gave me a tablet which is so cheap that if you drop it you wouldn't even pick it up but just get a new one (his words, not mine) and it is fast enough for me to browse, play some games, chat and have fine battery life. More battery life for this that kind of thing matters to me personally more than screen size/resolution or speed as the latter is more than enough for most people anyway but at the same time people complain mostly about battery life.
simplexion 10y ago
"Once we went to slabs with the original LG Prada all our phones have generally looked the same."

miguelrochefort 10y ago

And this is when real hardware differentiation will become mainstream: - Smart watches - Smart clothes - Smart earphones - IoT - Drones - Handheld tricorder-like devices - Ambient displays - AR headsets

draw_down 10y ago

So much the better. To some degree people treat their choice of device as a personal statement and I think we could all stand to move past that.

pweissbrod 10y ago

What is the problem with that? If the sole purpose of a bezel becomes a place for displaying the logo of a maker or carrier, screw that I'll only consider phones without the wasted space. I dont think you still get cool points anymore for showing everyone you have an iphone

plainOldText 10y ago

Hence why UI design should be given extreme consideration. I think the winners will be those who will craft the most magical user experiences.

shostack 10y ago

We won't be holding it. It will be in our pocket for many interactions. We'll have mini versions of one or two wireless earbuds/mic connected directly to the assistant.