Sony’s new, super-thin OLED display wraps around a pencil [OLED]

OLEDs, which are said to lead the next wave of innovation in the TV space (after back-lit LCDs and 3D displays), come with plenty of advantages: they produce gorgeous images, they are self-luminous, light, and they’re flexible – very flexible. Case in point: a super-thin, Sony-made 4.1-inch OLED that actually wraps around a pencil, shown today in Japan.

The display is just 80μm thick, offers 432 x 240 resolution (121 ppi), a contrast ratio of around 1,000:1, and produces 100 cd/m2 brightness. Sony says the OLED can be wrapped around a pencil with just a 4mm radius. And the OLED can actually continue to display images and video while being rolled up, which is (according to Sony) a world’s first.



Unfortunately, the OLED is just a prototype, but those of you who attend the SID event in Seattle this week will be able to see the screen in action. All the others can drool over the display in the short (but pretty cool) video embedded below.




[TechCrunch]

Future is almost here: OLED wallpaper coming in 2012 [OLED]

We were hoping OLED wallpaper was on its way, but didn't realize it was going to be as soon as 2012. In just two years, gorgeous wallpaper like this will start to replace light bulbs. Don't like this design? OLED lighting will take on a variety of forms, limited only by the imaginations of its creators.


OLED lighting is tremendously efficient, 2.5 times more so than energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs. That means a wallpaper panel like this can operate at an astonishing 150 lumens per watt, requiring just 3 to 5 Volts to power the OLED film that can function as anything from light-emitting wallpaper to a road sign.


This is all made possible by a breakthrough from British company called LOMOX, saying it's solved the main drawback of OLED lighting up until now: longevity. The company claims its OLED lighting will last longer than a compact fluorescent bulb. Better yet, it emits more lifelike light. The future looks bright.


[DVICE via OLED Display]

Mystery European Car Manufacturer Will Use OLED Lighting In Next Two Years [OLED]

OLED manufacturer Novaled has announced it's teamed up with a 'European car maker' to create OLED interior and backlight lighting for their new motor. Intriguing, eh?

Apparently it's passed the concept stage and is being put into production as we speak, with the car likely to go on sale in the next two years. OLED, as you know, is flexible, low-energy and with costs being decreased almost every day, it's now an affordable alternative to other lighting systems.

OLED lighting in the next Citroën, anyone?
[Gizmodo via Plastic Electronics via OLED-Info]

Samsung Producing First Integrated Touchscreen AMOLED Panels Starting Next Month [OLED]

Samsung Mobile Display has announced that they're going to begin mass production of the world's first 3.3-inch touch-embedded AMOLED panels next month. That means goodbye heavy glass display, and hello thinner, lighter, brighter phones.
The technology Samsung has developed places .001mm thin touch sensors on-cell on a 3.3-inch WVGA AMOLED, between the panel's substrate and the bottom polarizer film. The result is that you don't need the touch-sensing glass panel that currently sits above your phone's display anymore. The technology could also be integrated into cameras to provide a brighter display and/or longer battery life.
We've been enamored with AMOLED before, but this is the first time we've seen such a practical application hit mass production. Exciting! More so when we actually start to see some of these products hit the market—and see how much they cost.
[Gizmodo via Korea IT Times via OLED Info via Engadget]

OLED ID cards creepy, probably helpful [ID]

I question the actually utility of this, except for in corporate ID badging. It is cool though, combining OLED, RFID, and 3D into an ID. Plus, how is that for an alphabet soup of acronyms?

[CrunchGear via NetbookNews]

The Invisible OLED Laptop to End All Laptops [Laptops]

It's only a proof of concept, but this is laptop with a clear OLED screen—but a stone's throw from those floating 3D displays of Avatar. Practical? Not necessarily. The future? OBVIOUSLY.
The resolution, I don't know. It's pixely, but let's not quibble.
You see right through the thing, then something appears on the screen (like a white background), and you can't see through it anymore.
Are you processing this? No, you can't be. It's only 2010. Man wasn't prepared for this kind of technology yet. The brain hasn't evolved enough. We're primates. Squirrels. Slugs.
Maybe in 100 or 200 years, the great artists of the world will reflect on what's happened today and make some sort of sense of it all. Until then, we'll just keep on breathing, in, out. Until then, we'll weep.
[Gizmodo]

Portable scanner looks like a pen, is way more expensive

I've never needed to scan a document or photo while sitting in a plane seat, but if you ever have, there's a gadget for that. The unfortunately named DocuPen is a portable scanner made by PlanOn, about the size of one of Harry Potter's magic wands. Just roll the scanner along the document or photo you want to scan, and it'll capture it in JPEG format. Pretty impressive for something that weighs only a couple of ounces.
The DocuPen X-Series, new today, has 64GB of internal memory, which you can add to with a MicroSD card. You can transmit your scans via Bluetooth to your phone or a portable printer and it can capture color scans up to 600 dpi (true). A power-saving OLED display helps you navigate through wireless and USB transfers. We checked out one of the new DocuPens yesterday, and a JPEG photo scan looked surprisingly good, with detail on par with some desktop scanners.
I can see this being useful for mobile-business warriors or anyone who wants a scanner but doesn't have the desk space for a flatbed. But the price — $369 — is pretty insane. I realize there's a whole load of processing and storage in this micro scanner that doesn't exist in desktop models (since they rely on the PC for all that), but that's a lot of coin to part with for something you could lose between the couch cushions.
[DVICE via PlanOn]

Samsung Screen Resists Merciless Hammering Without a Scratch [Displays]

Color me impressed. Watch as this guy relentlessly beats this new Samsung flexible screen with a mallet. Amazingly, the 2.8-inch active matrix OLED—only 0.01 ounces, and 20 micrometers thick—keeps running happily, without a single scratch.
[Gizmodo via Gadget Lab]

Mitsubishi astonishes CEATEC with gigantic 155-inch OLED display

And to think we were impressed with the Zune HD's 3.3-inch OLED display. That would be positively puny next to this Mitsubishi 155-inch OLED TV sitting on the show floor of CEATEC 2009 in Japan. This massive monitor is even bigger than that gigantic 150-inch Panasonic plasma screen from a couple of CES shows ago.

This monster monitor consists of 720 modular sections that are each slightly larger than that Zune HD's OLED screen — the 4x4-inch pieces are placed tightly together in a near-seamless configuration. This modular design can be expanded to any size you want. No one is saying what resolution this particular display has, but from a distance those modules seem to mesh together rather well.
We're so impressed by the contrast, sharpness and three-times brighter images of OLED displays, we only wish we had a room large enough or a bank account big enough to accommodate such a behemoth. Never mind that, you can't buy one of these yet anyway. Wait about five years, and these displays will fill entire walls at bargain prices.

From the show floor, here's a video of the screen:

[DVICE]

Unfurl The Rolltop (The Flexible OLED Display Laptop)! [Concept]

Holy crap, one day I could roll my laptop up just like my yoga mat?! I don't care if this is just a concept for now, Orkin Design's Rolltop is freaking awesome.
The video shows it all but the 'laptop' has a flexible OLED display that is also capable of multitouch. When rolled out it becomes a 17-inch flat screen but can also be folded into a 13-inch tablet of sorts. I'd like to think that by the time we see something like the Rolltop we will have wireless power, but the detachable stand stores the tablet's stylus, power adapter and USB ports. I will never look at my yoga mat the same way.

[Gizmodo via Orkin Design]

Intel's "Tangent Bay" Laptop Concept Has 3 OLED Multi-Touch Screens Above the Keyboard [Intel]

That's four screens in total. Crazy, right? The prototype's three mini-screens let you organize and play files without taking up room on the main display. You can also use multi-touch gestures, and drag files between screens. Watch it in action:

This week's Intel Developer's Forum has a history of weird and wonderful prototypes. As it has with MIDs and UMPCs, the company uses concepts to as reference platforms in the hopes that manufacturers will take interest and use its chips. No word if anyone has signed up on this one, but it's a nice juicy insight of what type of products might be around the corner. [Crave Asia]

Sony A-Series Is the Thinnest Walkman Yet, Has OLED Screen [PMPs]

The pretty player has a 2.8-inch OLED screen (240x400), FM radio, TV-out, noise canceling, and is beautifully thin at 7.2mm. Oh, and it only weighs 2.2 ounces. But unlike the failed X-Series, the A has no touch screen or Wi-Fi.
Along with standard codec support, there's also new drag and drop feature that auto-transcodes video from your computer. And in Japan at least, the player comes with premium MDR-EX300SL earphones. Battery life is listed as 29 hours for music, and 9 hours for video.
No word on U.S. availability yet, but if the recent S and E series Walkmans are any gauge, the wait won't be long after it hits Japan on October 31. Pricing there will be: 16GB (Y24,000; $226), 32GB (Y30,000; $332), and (Y40,000; $443).
Enough to tempt you away from the more powerful $280 32GB Zune HD or $400 64GB iPod touch? I just don't know about those Mickey Mouse like controls myself... [Sony Japan (translated) via Akihabara News]

Slick Looking Nokia Erdos OLED Concept Could Become Real Next Month [Rumor]

The Nokia Erdos concept, suspiciously not profiled at the recent Nokia World Expo, may be sexy enough—and more importantly have just enough tangible features—that a proper reveal next month is entirely within the realm of possibility.
Again, there's nothing concrete here beyond a fuzzy footage and a laundry list of completely believable specs listed in the video:

OLED
stainless steel casing
2.4-in. QVGA display
3G
GPS
8GB storage
USB
Wifi
5 megapixel camera
Docking stand with wireless headset

So, just a hunch so far, and nothing from Nokia on this just yet. For now, I suppose, enjoy that sultry piano solo on this fine Sunday morning. [YouTube, Hear No Evil TV via Engadget]

סוני מציגה מסך OLED בעובי 0.3 מ"מ

טוב, סוני, בטח חשבתם לכם שלא נשים לב שמסך ה-11 אינץ' הקודם שלכם בעובי 3 מ"מ, ה-XEL-1 OLED TV, הוא עבה מדי. אז לא הצלחתם לעבוד עלינו. מזל שלכם, סוני, שבקרוב יצא המסך החדש עם אותם נתונים טכניים רק בעשירית העובי - 0.3 מ"מ.
המסך בעל הפרדה של 960X540 גרצגים, עדיין ללא שם וכמובן שלא זמין בחנות החשמל הקרובה לביתך. וגם אם היה זמין כנראה היה במחיר בעל 5 ספרות ובדולרים.

מה שנשאר לעשות זה לבקש מסוני להאיץ את הפיתוח, להגדיל את המסך ל-50 אינץ' ולקוות שהקיר עליו נתלה את המסך לא יגרום לתמונות שתלויות לידו להראות במשקל יתר...

[דרך Engadget]