Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports this morning that Sony plans to sell its 11-inch XEL-1 OLED TV in Europe in 2009. That dovetails nicely with a two-week old statement by a Sony representative who said, "I'd be very surprised if this hasn't arrived in the UK by 2009." Us too, after all, it's been on sale in Japan since December of 2007 and was recently caught slumming the big box outlets in the US. It only seems natural then, that Sony would ramp production to the point that by 2009 they could meet the minimal, European demand for a $2,500-ish TV measuring just 11-inches -- million:1 contrast or not. Still, it's all a bit late if you ask us (you did right?) seeing as how Sony plans to be producing medium to large OLED panels as early as April 2009.

[Via AVING]

Read -- Europe 2009
Read -- UK 2009

You can order up Sony's XEL-1 OLED TV from SonyStyle.com right now for $2,499.99 and hope that it ships by tomorrow. Or, you can waltz on down to your local Sam's Club, plunk down for a membership and walk out with the previously mentioned set for just $1,748.51. We can't say for sure if these units are available at Clubs nationwide just yet, but that's a comparatively delicious price for those in the market for an ultra-small, ultrathin OLED TV. Anyone care to guess how cheap this thing will be on Black Friday?

[Thanks, Vishal]

A bit earlier this year we heard that Panasonic (Matsushita's red-headed stepchild) was vying for a little recognition in the OLED TV game, but outside of that, details were scarce. Now, however, we're being told that the outfit is planning to start selling 40-inch OEL (organic electroluminescent, better known as OLED 'round these parts) televisions "as early as 2011." Reportedly, it will be investing "several billion yen" to construct a prototype production line for OEL panels "20-inches and larger" that will go into service next spring. We'd be pretty stoked if the final product were within sight, but make sure to ring us early on next decade to make sure we haven't completely forgotten about this here promise.

We haven't seen all that many OLED lighting options, but a group of researchers from the University of Michigan and Princeton University say they could be on the verge of changing that situation, with them now boasting of a new breakthrough that could greatly increase the efficiency of OLEDs. The key to that, it seems, is a combination of an organic grid and some tiny dome-shaped micro lenses that guide the trapped light out of the devices. As the researchers point out, with current OLEDs, only 20% of the light generated is actually released, but they say this new method could boost the efficiency by a full 60%, or about 70 lumens per watt of power. Of course, they're also quick to point out that all of this is still quite a ways away from becoming practical for commercial purposes, although they seem to be optimistic that the eventual production cost for these new and improved OLEDs will be competitive with existing ones.

The world already knew of Toshiba and Matsushita's separate plans to barrel into the OLED realm, but Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology is all set to become the first in Japan to "mass produce organic electroluminescent, or OEL, display panels." Reportedly, the two outfits will establish manufacturing lines in the Ishikawa Prefecture in fall of 2009, with plans to churn out one million 2.5-inch EL displays. Granted, the products will be rather minuscule in nature, with the idea being to fit them into cellphones, PMPs and other handheld gadgetry. Better hurry -- Samsung's pulling away over in South Korea.

[Via CNET]

Several Japanese tech giants are teaming together today in a quest to make 40-inch and larger OLED panels for televisions. Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, Sharp and others will participate under a joint development project initiated by the Japanese government. All of this is of course meant to help the Japanese companies compete with South Korea's chaebols, particularly Samsung and LG, as the industry giants maneuver for an advantage over the next, next-generation flat panel technology to dominate the living room.

[Via OLED-info]

In case you didn't get the message, Sony's due sooner-rather-than-later 27-inch OLED is going to be priced for the Mark Cubans, Bill Gates' and other people not you of the world, at least for the next couple of years. Even with recent massive investments, U.S. head Stan Glasgow tells CNET OLEDs in the future could be seen as a premium alternative to LCDs, but don't expect Sony to jump on smaller screens while they wait for the technology to catch up, HDTV is the focus. As for the upcoming standard def-streaming Hancock experiment? The first of many, if things go well, while at the same time he acknowledges format war winner Blu-ray may not penetrate to the same level as DVD since "a lot of people may be happy with an upconverting DVD player" -- which would be music to Toshiba's ears.

No, really... more rumors of Panasonic shifting R&D yen into OLED televisions? Oh you betcha, albeit this time with the specifics of a 37-inch OLED targeted for a retail launch in the next three years. Japanese newspaper, Sankei Shimbu, is reporting that the OLED panels will be produced on a parallel assembly line at Panasonic's new IPS Alpha factory. Without offering any specifics, Panny did have the decency to confirm that it's working on OLED technology -- something we already knew about. With consumers and editors alike awestruck by OLED display technology and Sony and Samsung already official committed to delivering medium to large panels in 2009/2010, only the chatter of Panasonic not pursuing OLED as a future panel technology would surprise us.

Okay, we're as disappointed as you that we didn't get to check out Sony's 0.3mm OLED prototype up close and, um, turned on, but we were lucky to see the thing at all. They whisked it off-stage as soon as Stringer's presentation / interview was over, and we were told it also happens to be the one and only unit in the world. Bottom line: from what we did see, the picture looked about as crisp and vibrant as the XEL-1 (which is to say, quite). And in terms of thinness? It looks like a shiny, magic piece of paper -- which left us kind of stumped as to how Sony can make any display even thinner (but we're sure they'll try).

At D6 today Howard Stringer showed off a brand new "thinner than a credit card" 0.3mm thick OLED panel that Sony is working on. They're planning on a 27-inch version of the screen in the short term for the ultra-rich, but the obvious hope is to fight LCD for dominance in the home in the coming years. This could very well be that 11-inch 960 x 540 display we saw last month, but specs are slim at the moment. More shots after the break.

[Image courtesy of All Things Digital]

The D conference is in full swing, and the next heavy hitter on deck is Sony CEO Howard Stringer, who's rumored to have a new Sony OLED display for Unkie Walt to play with. We're assuming it'll be a little bit bigger than the XEL-1, but Silicon Alley Insider says it'll come in at just .3mm thick, which is only slightly beefier than a playing card. We're guessing it'll be more like the XEL-1's 3mm, but we'll see what Howie has in store for us -- we wouldn't be opposed to hearing some more about those "slim PS3" rumors, ourselves.

Competition: so beautiful in its simplicity, so effective in its execution. Sony just authorized an additional ¥22 billion ($210 million) as it aims to produce "medium-to-large sized OLED panels" in fiscal 2009. For Sony, that's the year spread from April 2009 to March 2010. Not coincidentally, that's the same production timeline that Samsung is on. Oh, the OLED game is so on.

It's been a tick since we've heard anything noteworthy on the e-passport front (that's probably a good thing, truth be told), but Samsung SDI and German security printer Bundesdruckerei are out to break the silence. The two have teamed up to demonstrate a passport that boasts a "slim and bendable" OLED color display within a "polycarbonate data page." Predictably, the aforementioned display can be used to "provide a raft of information including a video of the document holder." It's also noted that the units will be heat-resistant, enabling officials to laminate the cards and make them less susceptible to manipulation. Information about a potential release date wasn't divulged, but it sure sounds like this stuff is dangerously close to being ready for use.

Samsung's stream of 82-inch monsters packing the company's latest technology continues unabated, this time a minor update to the QuadHD behemoth we saw at CES brings so-outdated 120Hz motion processing and LED backlighting to keep blur and judder far, far away. We know what you're thinking, its 3840x2160 resolution is no good unless you can write on it, luckily Samsung also has an 82-inch ultra high definition e-Board in its SID 2008 booth. OLED fans take heart, Samsung has reached economies of scale, hopefully meaning reasonably priced (and longer lasting) thin screens are due sooner instead of later. The Korea Times notes LG's at the show as well, showcasing LCD roll-printing technology to replace the photolithography process that currently births the flat panels on our walls, but we simply can't be bothered with a company that's only the number two LCD manufacturer in the world.

[Via TV Snob]

As much as we would loath typing on that touch-sensitive, rigid keyboard, we're definitely geek-smitten by this ultra-thin, AMOLED laptop concept from Samsung SDI -- Sammy's display division. 12.1-inches and 1,280 x 768 resolution with infinite contrast? We'll take two... just as soon as someone can explain the extra panel around back. With Samsung projecting 14- to 15.4-inch OLED laptops in 2009, this might come sooner than you think.