It's been almost a full year since Samsung first announced its plans for a 3-inch WVGA OLED panel, but it's now finally delivered, and found a partner in the form of KDDI, which was showing off the panel at CEATEC. As Tech-On notes, the panel is quite the upgrade over Samsung's current top-end 3-inch QVGA panel and, best of all, KDDI says that it'll be showing up in actual products "shortly," though it's not about to get any more specific than that. As if that wasn't enough, KDDI also had a new "3D LCD" panel built by an unnamed "Japanese panel manufacturer" on hand at the show. It boasts the same WVGA resolution as the OLED and employs a "parallax barrier method" to magically "convert 2D images into 3D in real time -- check that out after the break, and look for the panels to be productized by the end of 2009.

[Via OLED-DISPLAY.net]

Printable OLED panels are hardly the rare occurrence they once were, but Alps Electric seems to think it's worked enough magic with its latest prototype to stand out from the pack, even if it may not wind up in actual product form anytime soon. The key bit with this one, it seems, is a so-called "getter" layer that's used in addition to the usual electrodes and emission layer, which helps to seal the area around the cathode electrode and compensate for minute defects. According to the company, that effectively triples the life of the OLED panel, which is especially useful considering that the same technology is also increasingly being used for lighting systems in addition to displays.

iriver came to IFA with the usual collection of concept gear we crave. Unlike other manufacturers, iriver usually brings its prototypes to market, eventually, so you'll want to pay attention. First up is a concept horn speaker (pictured top) attached to an iriver SPINN. The device plugs into the existing headphone jack bringing a sense of gramophone nostalgia to this most-modern device.

As good as the SPINN is, we can't rave about iriver's newest PMP, the P20 launching today at IFA. Looks like our early excitement about the product back at CES was misplaced. First off, it's big -- a true brick by today's PMP standards. Also, we're not sold on the implementation of the SPINN interface here. The P20 uses a combination of vertical and horizontally placed thumb wheels, an "ok" button (why not just press in the thumbwheel like on the SPINN?), and touchscreen AMOLED -- a heap of overly-complex overkill based on our admittedly, limited time with the device. The touchscreen was also rendered unusable by menus only accessible by the thumbwheels as well as an incredibly high bezel framing the display thus inhibiting screen touches along the edges. As to the specs, it's everything we heard: 4.1-inch 480 x 272 pixel display, FM tuner, TV-out, voice recording, and integrated DMB TV option, 80GB or 120GB hard disk, and Li-Polymer battery for 12-hours of audio, 9-hours of video, or 8-hours of DMB in a 130 x 97 x 20.5-mm slab. Expected to launch in Korea next month at an undetermined price -- rest of world to be determined.

While traditionally known as a forum for HDTVs, the big IFA show in Berlin is also shaping up as a showcase battle for Korean DAPs. Hot on the arching heels of Cowon's S9 Curve comes this, the (re)announcement of iriver's P20. While we first saw the P20 as a plastic prototype at CES, we're desperately hoping for a fully functional, 80/120GB media player this time around. The device is still spec'd with a 4.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen display capable of pumping 12-, 9-, or 8-hours of music, video, or DMB TV at a clip, respectively. It's also likely sporting a SPINN UI judging by that thumb-wheel. Also on deck is the M3 portable GPS navigator / media player with 3.5-inch touch screen LCD. More details on Friday when trade show floor opens its doors.

Taste that? It's the sweet nectar of want for Cowon's new S9 Curve. This 3.3-inch media player features an AMOLED capacitive touch panel display that spreads 16 million colors across 480 x 272 pixels. Inside you'll find a 500MHz dual-core CPU, T-DMB digital television tuner, Bluetooth, FM radio, TV-out, and G-Sensor accelerometer. All that and nearly two days (40 hours) of music playback from a single charge. No price yet but we expect to hear more later this week as the big European IFA show kicks off in Berlin.

[Via CNET Asia]