LG hurled a curveball into the Australian smartphone market this week with the release of the futuristic G Flex handset.
The $999 phone is the first available here with a curved screen. It arcs gently along six diagonal inches.
And, as the name suggests, it's the first handset able to "flex". Lie it face down on a table and you can press it flat. Let go and it will spring back into shape.
It's possible due to an emerging display technology known as OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode), which is being pioneered by LG and fellow Korean tech titan Samsung in their top-secret R&D labs.
The organic pixels produce light when hit with electric charges, reducing the need for a backlight. Attach the pixels to flexible plastic rather than glass, and voila - flex.
The design is undoubtedly innovative. But are we witnessing the future of smartphones or merely a headline-grabbing gimmick?
Analysts lean towards the former.
"I think this is more than just a gimmick," said CK Lu, a senior mobile researcher at Gartner.
One day, he suggested, the technology could lead to that holy grail of smartphones, "an unbreakable screen".
The technology could also allow manufacturers to get rid of the "boring rectangle smartphones people have today".
In addition to durability, LG is touting a range of other benefits.
For one, the curve supposedly better fits the contours of the human body, providing a more comfortable fit with the face while on a call.
The appeal of such factors tends to depend on personal preference said Nick Ingelbrecht, a consumer insights specialist at Gartner.
More credible, he said, was LG's other claim - that the curved screen provides a more "immersive" viewing experience by wrapping around a viewer's field of vision.
This is especially important as people watch more and more video on their mobiles and expect more from them.
"There are certain advantages with curved screens in terms of reflection and creating a more immersive experience, and I think even on a six-inch screen that's true," he said.
"Flexible curved displays are the direction the industry is moving in," he said, adding that vendors can't afford to ignore "a very significant evolution in screen technology".
The technology remains in its infancy, however, and how quickly manufacturers push it will depend on how consumers respond.
At first, Ingelbrecht said, appeal will likely be restricted to early adopters - the cashed-up, tech-savvy, and fashion-conscious minority.
Such people represent about 18 per cent of the global market, he added, but Australians are generally about six months slower to embrace new technology than super early-adopter countries such as Korea.
"We tend to be a little bit more selective in terms of what kinds of technologies catch on here."
At the same time, uptake will depend on how good the technology is.
There are currently a few teething issues. The screen on the G Flex, for example, can be fuzzy, and the resolution is not as sharp as other premium devices.
These will likely change over time. Tablets prices only dropped after massive investment in flat-screen and high-definition technology, said Mason Davies, a senior tech analyst at Deloitte.
"A curved screen isn't necessarily a leap forward on its own, but it does represent a possible step in that direction," he said.
"It's all down to whether the public take it up."
