free-form
Latest
Nintendo's next device will reportedly, bizarrely, be donut-shaped
There's an intriguing report from Kyodo that Nintendo will use Sharp's "free-form" LCDs on an oddly-shaped new console or other product. Sharp recently showed off IGZO-based displays that move the control circuits away from the bezel, allowing for funky, non-rectangular shapes, as shown above. Nintendo will reportedly use the tech for a device with a "donut-hole" at the center, either a replacement 3DS console or an unusual sleep-tracking device it recently teased. It could also be aimed at cheaper consoles for emerging markets, judging by recent statements about "new thinking" from president Satoru Iwata. If the rumor is accurate, it's not clear why Nintendo would want a screen with a hole -- possibly to display extra game info? Your guess is as good as ours. Update: We asked Nintendo about the report and it (unsurprisingly) told us "we don't comment on rumor or speculation."
Sharp flaunts Free-Form displays for funky-shaped devices
When Motorola unveiled its snappy Moto 360 smartwatch, the first thing we thought was "how do you make a round display?" Sharp has one answer with its new IGZO-based "Free-Form" LCD prototype that can be sculpted into any shape. The company's current IGZO tech only works with rectangular displays, where the circuits that drive the LCD live on the perimeter of the screen. Sharp managed to bake those chips into the display itself, allowing for not only a shrunken bezel but nearly any display format you might want. That'll let designers create much more compact car dashboards, new digital signage, unusually shaped monitors and yes, wearables like smartwatches. That likely won't include the Moto 360, though, since it's rumored to have an OLED display. Also, Sharp says that the Free-Form display is nearly ready for mass production, but isn't quite there yet.
'Free form' lens over mobile display could improve audio and haptics, says Motorola patent filing
It's hard to tell exactly what Motorola is thinking of here, but it probably isn't a billowing sheet of fabric stretched loosely over the face of a smartphone -- even if that's what it looks like. Instead, this appears to be a patent application for a "free floating display lens" that helps the panel of a mobile device to be used as a Beo-style acoustic speaker. The idea is that you can get louder and less resonant sound without having to dedicate more precious real estate to a larger traditional speaker unit. The application also talks about generating haptic feedback on the lens, using the same underlying piezoelectric structures that would power the audio. Creating vibrations this way could require "eight times" less voltage than current methods while also delivering a higher-amplitude sensation. Merge that with KDDI's weird vibrational speaker technology and the results could be deafening.
