THE LATEST TREND MIGHT BE FOLDABLE SMARTWATCHES

At the Mobile World Congress technology show, in Barcelona, there have been some insane products that popped up, but there is a new trend that might arise in between all these foldable gadgets, a wearable smartphone/smartwatch with a flexible display that folds around the wearer's wrist.

The Nubia Alpha features a 4-inch flexible OLED display built into a watch strap with a 5-megapixel camera, and this wearable device can make calls and even send texts.

The Chinese firm, Nubia, which is part of telecoms firm ZTE, says that, while this device is considered a wearable, the big screen on the strap that houses the 'smartphone' puts this device in a new category, and that category is one that combines the aspects of smartwatches with smartphones. According to Tech Central, the company says the device can also be used as a health and fitness tracker, like many other wearables, and contains a battery that can last up to two days.

The Nubia Alpha runs on a custom version of Google's Android operating system, and also includes mobile payment capabilities, with the first version of the Alpha to go on sale in North America as well as Europe in April.

The company added that the smartwatch will support hands-free gesture control, which means the Nubia Alpha will be able to pick up the user's gestures and to navigate between different menu screens of the device.

Flexible screens and foldable smartphones are expected to become increasingly popular in the near future. LG announced its first rollable television at the beginning of 2019, and in the wake of Huawei and Samsung's foldable phone announcements, reports have already surfaced claiming Apple is developing its own version of such a device, and some conceptual designs can already be seen online.