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Samsung factory fire triggered by discarded batteries
Samsung just can't catch a break when it comes to batteries. The company reports that faulty lithium batteries and other waste products triggered a minor fire at a Samsung SDI factory in Tianjin, China on February 8th. No one was hurt, the company says, and it's largely business as usual at the plant. You won't have to worry about (further) delays for the Galaxy S8, then.
Samsung EV battery offers 500km range with 20 minutes of charge
By the time 2021 rolls around, a number of major car makers will have a varied selection of electric cars available. Developments in battery technology will dictate the range and features that these cars can offer, but Samsung wants to give consumers a brief insight into what will be available at the start of the next decade. Samsung SDI, the Korean conglomerate's lithium ion and renewable division that provides power for auto giant BMW, today announced a "next generation" battery that offers 600 kilometers (373 miles) of driving and can be "fast charged" in just 20 minutes.
Samsung: OLED screens on half of mobile phones within 5 years
Truthfully, we wouldn't put too much stock in that headline considering that Samsung Mobile Display, a company that makes its ends off of selling active-matrix OLEDs, is the source. But on the other hand, we can definitely see it coming to fruition. According to a new report, said outfit has stated that OLED screens of some sort will be on over half of all mobile phones (not just smartphones, mind you) within the next five years, and that these same power-sipping displays will be on 20 percent of digital cameras and 30 percent of portable game players (PSP2, anyone?) within the same window of time. While it may seem a bit far-fetched now, we actually have good reason to believe that OLED adoption will indeed skyrocket on the small scale; it's those big screen TVs that we're worried only our grandchildren will truly enjoy.[Via OLED-Info]
Samsung's Amorphous Oxide TFT should make OLED production cheaper
Samsung's charging ahead in the wide open world of OLEDs, and its latest development could make things better for everyone. Reportedly, the outfit has conjured up a so-called Amorphous Oxide TFT, which is the proper successor of the Amorphous Silicon TFT that's currently used to tell pixels in OLED displays which colors to switch in order to create images. There are two big boons to all of this -- first off, the newfangled tech is cheaper to mass produce, and secondly, it can be retrofitted into current production lines. No telling when Sammy will be able to get this stuff into shipping products, but we're cautiously crossing our fingers for some positive updates in Vegas.[Via TechRadar]
Samsung SDI to back away from PMOLED, focus efforts on AMOLED
Unbeknownst to most, there are actually quite a few flavors of OLED out there. We've got passive-matrix (PM), active-matrix (AM) and transparent, and evidently Samsung SDI isn't really feeling the former anymore. Reportedly, the outfit will begin to phase out of the PMOLED business, and it will begin looking for ways to alter its existing PMOLED production line for "other uses." The plug is being pulled (at least partially) as decreasing panel prices and a small bucket of buyers have reduced profitability, leaving it little option but to readjust its focus on the more promising AMOLED. The move isn't entirely surprising -- after all, LG Display suspended its entire PMOLED business last year, and while there is a slight possibility that the firm keeps a small bit of PMOLED production going, it'll be minor (if there's any at all). Our take? We're stoked. It's the AMOLEDs that'll end up in that mythical 40 inch (and beyond) OLED HDTV, so we're all about giving more attention to that baby's commercialization date.
Pioneer wins plasma patent case over Samsung, awarded $59.3 million
Pioneer may be licking its wounds, but at least there's one bright spot on an otherwise dark end-of-year. The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall (read: patent troll heaven) recently found that "Samsung willfully infringed two Pioneer patents covering plasma display technology," leading to a settlement which involves Samsung handing Pioneer a check for $59,351,480. Samsung has yet to comment on the ruling, but it's pretty easy to imagine what it's probably thinking, wouldn't you say?[Via SmartHouse, thanks Anthony]
Samsung SDI shows off 63-inch 4k x 2k plasma
There's a slight possibility that you haven't noticed, but Samsung SDI is on fire. Like, seriously burning down FPD International 2008. After treating onlookers to a flexible OLED, a 40-inch Full HD OLED display and an assortment of other eye-enticing panels, the outfit has one-upped itself once more with a 63-inch 4k x 2k plasma. Sure, actually finding 4k x 2k content will be a challenge, but who wouldn't want to be ready for the inevitable worldwide domination of Super Hi-Vision? Most of the other specs (contrast ratio, luminance, where it's being stored with loose security, etc.) were sadly absent, but with a native resolution like this, the rest takes a back seat anyway.
Samsung drops jaws with 40-inch 1080p OLED display
Anyone who figured OLED would go the way of SED has another thing comin', and Samsung's got the prototype to prove it. Over at the OLED-heavy FPD International 2008 show, Samsung is showcasing the biggest panel (of this nature) that its pilot line can even create: a 40-inch Full HD OLED display. 1,920 x 1,080 pixels of delicious OLED goodness, mixed with a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1, a color gamut of 107% NTSC, a luminance of 200cd/m2 and a thickness of just 8.9-millimeters. Judging by first hand reports, the actual quality wasn't top-notch, but we're willing to forgive the early glitches in hopes of a better tomorrow. Hit the read link for one more look.[Via OLED-Display]
Samsung SDI expected to post first profit in two years
Samsung SDI has definitely been on the offensive of late, producing the world's first WVGA OLED panels for handhelds, a 3D AMOLED display and plans to crank out medium to large OLED TVs in just a year or so. Its efforts are paying off, as the firm is expected to post its first profit since dipping into (and remaining in) the red back in Q1 2005. According to Kim Dong-won, an analyst at Hyundai Securities, the outfit is forecasting a ???3.1 billion ($3.05 million) profit for Q2 2008 -- quite a bit better than the ???31 billion ($30.5 million) in losses analysts were expecting. Here's a hint for staying in the black: get a few big screen OLED HDTVs out before everyone else. Simple, right?
Samsung's 12.1-inch OLED laptop concept makes us swoon
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.
Samsung expects affordable medium to large OLED displays in 2009 / 2010
Remember Samsung's 14- and 31-inch OLED panels on display at CES? With any luck, we'll see them hitting assembly lines sometime in the next two years. Woo-Jong Lee, VP Marketing at Samsung SDI says that medium and large size displays like monitors, laptops, and TVs will get the OLED treatment in 2009 and 2010. Nothing we haven't heard before. Still, given the group's recent distractions it's good to hear it again. Samsung is expected to achieve a production capacity of 3 million OLED panels in 2009 (double the current capacity) before hitting 6 million or so in 2010. That type of output should allow Samsung to start pushing down costs in '09 thanks to economies of scale -- good news for consumers. They'd better hurry though; we're this close to dropping $2,500 for Sony's 11-inch XEL-1. Silly, we know, but you'd understand if you've ever seen the display.
Fire at battery plant threatens global supply of exploding laptop batteries
The fallout of the March 3rd fire at LG Chem, the second biggest S. Korean manufacturer of laptop batteries, is now clear. There's a global shortage of batteries which won't be relieved until LG Chem can restart the assembly lines in another 2 to 3 months. Dell claims that the shortage has already caused an increase in price for secondary or replacement batteries. ASUS says it could affect up to 40% of ASUS' laptop shipments including the Eee PC. Bad news for us, good news for Samsung SDI and Sony in Japan as laptop OEMs look elsewhere for inventory.
Samsung SDI is building first WVGA OLED panel for handhelds
While the technology is still in preliminary stages, it's not hard to imagine the kind of devices inside which a 3-inch WVGA (480 x 800) OLED display would find a home, and we want one yesterday. Samsung SDI is prepping just such a display, and claims to have overcome the manufacturing and performance barriers that have kept the technology stuck at QVGA in consumer devices. The new technology is being developed in conjunction with Clairvoyante, using Clairvoyante's proprietary PenTile RGB tech, allowing for low battery consumption and high performance, to the tune of 1000:1 contrast and 200 nits of brightness. Sounds good to us, mass production starts Q3 2008.
Samsung SDI announces latest "world's thinnest" LCD
It's just a few short months since Samsung last claimed the title of world's thinnest LCD, but the company now seems to be facing a challenge from within, with subsidiary Samsung SDI announcing its bested its parent company's shortly-held record by a few millimeters. For those keeping score, Samsung SDI's LCD comes in at a mere 0.74 millimeters thick, which is more than enough to push Samsung Electronics' 0.82 mm thick LCD down to second place. Of course, the new record holder's still in prototype form, meaning it's still a ways off from actually finding its way into a cellphone, with the company only going so far as to say that it'll make an appearance in its "next-generation phones." Closer to reality, however, is Samsung's comparatively thicker 1.9 mm LCD, which the company says will soon be going into mass production before winding its way into its Ultra Edition II handsets this spring.[Via Mobile Whack]
