Get ready for the return of the flip phone: LG and Samsung will BOTH reveal folding handsets this year

• Samsung's device is  codenamed 'Foldable Valley' and turns into a 7inch tablet
• LG believes it can sell 100,000 foldable devices in the fourth quarter
• Apple has also been granted patents for foldable phone handsets 

If you like the idea of having a phone with a large screen, but need it to fit in a pocket or small handbag, help may be at hand.

According to The Korea Herald, Samsung and LG are planning to launch bendable phones later this year. 

Samsung's device, codenamed  'Foldable Valley' will turn into a 7inch tablet when unfolded, and is expected to launch in august, the report claims.

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It also says LG will unveil a similar product, and believes it can sell 100,000 foldable devices in the fourth quarter. 

Last year Samsung was awarded a patent for a radical design that allows a phones to fold in two.

It could lead to a handset that can easily transform into a tablet - simply by unfolding it.   

The document shows a narrow Samsung device with a screen that bends and folds like an old-school flip phone handset, with a large hinge. 

The device is described as something that can be 'folded or unfolded semi automatically.' 

The patent also referred to both a 'flexible' and 'secondary' display, which is supposed to activate when you fold the device, according to International Business Times.

According to previous claims from Korean news site ETNews, the product is known internally as a 'smartlet' and has a 7inch screen when unfolded, which becomes a 5inch device when folded.

Samsung will apparently start mass producing the 'smartlet' this year for a 2017 release, and has spent three years developing the technology.

Dubbed 'Foldable Valley', the device is expected to take advantage of bendy plastic screens being developed by Samsung's display division.

In a call with investors in January, director of Samsung's Display division Lee Chang-hoon said 'Development of Foldable OLED is taking place according to our plan...We are planning on mass-production and release this product by discussing with out partners.' 

The South Korean tech giant previously said it will launch foldable devices in 2016 and trusted rumour blog SamMobile reported earlier this year that anonymous sources claim the device is already being tested in China.

The source, who claims to have in-depth knowledge of the device, said it is being developed under the codename Project Valley. 

And they added that two versions of the phone are being tested - one with a Snapdragon 620 processor and another with a Snapdragon 820.

Elsewhere, the device is rumoured to have 3GB of RAM, a microSD card slot and a non-removable battery.

Samsung told MailOnline it doesn't comment on rumour or speculation.  

Samsung has been teasing bendable screens for years and at CES in 2013 revealed a flexible Oled screen called Youm.

The firm said at the time it could make high-resolution screens on extremely thin plastic, instead of glass, so it could be bent without shattering.

However, a notebook style phone would need to bend at a very sharp angle and would need to withstand considerable wear and tear, leading some commentators to suggest the rumour should be taken with a pinch of salt.

LG is similarly developing incredibly bendy screens.

In 2014, it showed off a working 18-inch Ultra HD screen that uses a special film instead of plastic as backing.

This allowed the screen to be rolled into a tight tube for transport. 

At the time, the company said it could make its debut in 2017.

In May, it debuted a a concept ultra thin 'wallpaper TV' less than 1mm thick, and at four lbs (1.9kg) it is so light it can be attached to the wall using just magnets.

At IFA, a demonstration showed an LG employee pulling the screen away from the wall and bending it, to prove it carries on working.