flexible display
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Samsung's stretchable electronic 'skin' can detect and display your heartbeat
Samsung has developed a flexible heart rate monitor with a stretchable display.
Louis Vuitton’s flexible-screen handbags are the definition of extra
With flexible screens being all the rage nowadays, more and more companies are building products touting the technology. But there's an unexpected one joining the craze: Louis Vuitton. The luxury brand has introduced a set of handbags that feature built-in flexible displays, which Louis Vuitton tells Engadget are AMOLED and have a 1,920 x 1,440 resolution. There were two prototype handbags shown off during LV's Cruise 2020 runway show in New York City this week: One with a single screen and another with two, and both displayed videos of random city views and what appeared to be a demo of an internet browser.
EE teases the LG G Flex's 2014 launch with in-store displays across the UK
Taking a page from the "you always want what you can't have" playbook, UK carrier EE will be showcasing LG's G Flex smartphone in some of its stores starting this Friday, December 20th. Don't expect to walk out with the curved handset; EE's just teasing the flexible device ahead of its European launch in early 2014. Curious Brits in London, Manchester and several other cities can get some hands-on time with the G Flex, which sports a 6-inch, flexible display with a "self-healing finish." For the full list of participating stores, head past the break.
LG G Flex curved smartphone revealed in press renders, will launch next month (update: 6-inch display)
LG has admitted that "bendable and unbreakable" smartphone displays are already in production, and we've heard plenty of rumors about a device known as the G Flex which features the new tech. Engadget has come across a trio of renders of the upcoming device, and we have learned from our sources that it will be coming out sometime next month -- pricing and availability (as well as hard specs) are as of yet unknown, however. As you can see in the images (above and below), the G Flex offers a curved display, but LG's version approaches it at a literally different angle from the Galaxy Round that was announced last week: instead of it curving from left to right, the G Flex goes orthogonally from top to bottom. We'll update you with more information and images as we get closer to the device's launch. Update: Our sources have confirmed to us that the G Flex will indeed have a 6-inch display, as rumored previously.
Sony's 13.3-inch Digital Paper prototype sports E Ink's Mobius flexible display, we go hands-on (video)
Sony's new e-ink prototype is getting the test-drive treatment at Japanese universities, but SID provides a perfect opportunity to give the North American market a demo. We found the Digital Paper slab parked at E Ink's booth -- fitting, as the company's new Mobius flexible display is the device's biggest selling point. At 13.3 inches, the panel is larger than your typical e-reader's, but it weighs just 60 grams. That light footprint comes courtesy of E Ink's TFT tech, which allows for larger, more rugged devices without the extra weight. The Digital Paper's form factor matches the size of a sheet of A4 paper, and the on-board digitizer lets users scrawl notes on the electromagnetic induction touchscreen. Naturally, this is just one implementation of the E Ink's display, but it's neat to see a prototype in action nonetheless. Head past the break to do just that.%Gallery-189049%
Hands-on with LG's 5-inch flexible plastic OLED display at SID (video)
You can't blame us for rushing to see LG's flexible OLED HD panel here at SID. First announced earlier this week, the 5-inch display sports a plastic construction, which allows it to be both bendable and unbreakable. Most alluring of all, though, is LG's intimation that the screen tech will debut in a smartphone by the end of this year. Before we get lost in thoughts about a tricked-out Optimus G, let's take a look at this early prototype. The panel is made of plastic substrates, which are both more flexible and cheaper to manufacture than their glass counterparts. In fact, cost-effectiveness seems to be the chief objective overall. Clumsy consumers will benefit as well -- in a smartphone, the glass above the screen could break, but the OLED panel would stay in tact, resulting in lower repair costs. At the company's booth, a demo area let attendees take a hammer to the standalone display and twist it every which way -- sure enough, it withstood these torture tests. In our hands, the 5-inch screen was lightweight and responsive to twists and bends; it felt like a thick film strip. An LG rep told us the panel could sport a bigger or smaller size when it debuts in a smartphone later this year. And though the prototype on display here today was labeled merely as "HD," we're sure that resolution could be adjusted as well. For now, get an early look in our video after the break.%Gallery-188996%
E Ink reference phone and flexible display hands-ons (video)
Looking for your dream phone? Chances are, this isn't it -- but it could be the precursor to what could eventually be cradled in your pocket, especially if you are a fan of E Ink. The device seen above and in the first gallery below is one of just five prototypes of the E-ink reference phone in existence. The point? The company wants to have a tangible Android-powered (2.3.5 Gingerbread, to be exact) model to give to potential partners, so they can craft something similar down the road. We're told that it will most likely be used on the back of color phones, much like the YotaPhone, but partners are welcome to get crazy on the front screen as well. No official timeframe for availability or seeding has been set, but it is expected to roll out in limited capacity sometime this year. Official specs are few and far between, but what we do know is that this nameless phone is driven by a Cortex-A5 CPU of some kind. Given that this is an extremely early prototype, the E Ink device had a lot of bugs when we played with it: force closes, reboots and slow response are among the things we noticed. However, we imagine this will continue to improve with time, so by the time of seeding it may be a completely different story. The UI reminds us of a simplistic feature phone geared toward the basic user, with six icons on the front screen including an app menu. As we'd expect, the phone is great for reading books, and it comes with the option to install applications (though it's possible most games wouldn't look that great). You can also shake the device to clean the text in case it ends up getting "dirty," or misaligned. %Gallery-180039% %Gallery-180040%
LG gets patent for mobile UI that reacts to flexible displays, encourages origami
As often as companies love to toy with flexible displays, we're seldom told how we'd control that newfound freedom. Are we supposed to make e-paper cranes? Credit LG for some forward thinking -- it's just receiving a US patent for a 2008-era user interface invention that would use a bending screen to its advantage. The implementation includes two displays, one of which flexes while the other accepts touch; bend or fold the first display, and the touchscreen changes to suit the context. Having two closely linked displays would also let the panels run either in unity or independently. Suffice it to say that the technology is unlikely to roll out as-is on a smartphone, if ever: LG's attention has swung towards having one big touchscreen as of late. However, the interface does give the Korean firm a place to start if it develops devices to match its new flexible batteries.
iPad "Smarter Cover" patent application would add display, controls to cover
Like your iPad Smart Cover? You can look forward to a possible future "Smarter Cover" from Apple if the company follows up on a patent application filed about a year ago for a Smart Cover-like tablet cover with a flexible secondary display. As shown in the lovely, high-resolution color images filed with the patent application (one seen above), Apple's idea would take power from a connector on the side of the iPad to drive a flexible display in one of the cover segments for adding extra icons, controlling media playback, or displaying notifications. One drawing, seen below, shows the entire "Surface" of the cover (pun intended) being used as a keyboard, while another turns it into a drawing digitizer. Of course, just because the company has applied for a patent doesn't mean that they'll get the patent or ever add the concept to a future product if they do. #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
TshirtOS is web-connected, programmable, 100 percent cotton (video)
An LED display, camera, microphone, speaker and accelerometer all packaged into a t-shirt and controlled via your smartphone? That's the concept behind tshirtOS, a wearable platform for "self-expression" that currently only exists as a prototype. It can show off tweets, play music videos, capture belly-height photos and send them off to Instagram, and pretty much do anything except play percussion. CuteCircuit, which came up with the idea in cahoots (inexplicably) with Ballantine's whisky, says it's about to conduct product tests and will mass produce the smart-shirts if enough folks register interest. There's no Kickstarter page, definite specs or pricing for any of this, but based on CuteCircuit's history and the video after the break we're inclined to believe TshirtOS is more than just viral marketing stunt for the sake of a dram -- click onwards and judge for yourself.
LG selected to develop 60-inch flexible OLED by 2017
While regular consumers still wait for the first big screen OLED display to make it to big box stores, Korea's Ministry of Knowledge Economy has chosen LG to lead the consortium charged with developing a 60-inch flexible OLED by 2017. Part of the Future Flagship Program, its goal is to generate exports and create jobs by promoting next-generation technologies. The idea is that these flexible displays could be used in windows displaying information say at a bus stations or other public places like a store. So while it appears the focus is currently on commercial applications, we for one have our hopes that we'll one day be able to roll down a giant OLED screen where most might expect the screen for a projector.
Corning unveils slim, flexible Willow Glass (video)
That is not plastic in the image above, it's glass. In particular it's a sheet of Corning's new 100-micron-thick Willow Glass, a new ultra-thin and flexible substrate for LCDs and OLEDs. The extreme thinness of the glass should lead to lighter, svelter devices, but it also means that shape is no longer a barrier for design. In fact, Corning expects Willow Glass will eventually lead substrates to be manufactured "roll-to-roll" instead of "sheet-to-sheet" -- similar to how newspapers are printed. Even though the glass is as thin as paper (literally) it doesn't give up its patented Corning toughness. Though, we wouldn't subject this to the same sort of abuse that the more brolic Gorilla Glass is built to withstand. Willow will start showing up in smartphones first, but the company is already looking into additional applications, such as solar cells and lighting. For more, check out the video and PR after the break.
Copper-nickel nanowires from Duke University could make ubiquitous printable circuits
Nanowires, although they're building steam, still have to overcome the not-so-small problem of cost -- they often have to use indium tin oxide that's not just expensive, but fragile. Duke University has developed copper-nanowire films that could remedy this in style. The choice of material is both a hundred times less expensive to make than indium and is much more durable. It's flexible, too: if layered on as a coating, the nanowires would make for considerably more viable wearable electronics that won't snap under heavy stress. The catch, as you might suspect, stems from the copper itself, which doesn't conduct as much electricity as indium. The nickel will keep your copper electronics from oxidizing faster than the Statue of Liberty, however. Any practical use could be years away, but further successes from Duke could quickly see printable electronics hit the mainstream power and power our dreams of flexible displays.
Plastic Logic demoes flexible color display for e-readers (video)
Plastic Logic has getting by with some eastern love since last year, when RUSNANO's $700 million investment helped the e-reader maker land its Plastic Logic 100 in Russian schools. The latest fruit of that partnership is a prototype of its first flexible color e-reader display, which delivers 4,000-plus hues at a resolution of 75 ppi. The screen contains some 1.2 million plastic transistors, and it's able to bend without distorting images thanks to a top filter and a 150-ppi display below that flex at the same rate. Skip past the break for a demo clip of the tech in action, appropriately featuring some Matryoshka dolls.
Samsung teases flexible, transparent display in concept video
Samsung's flexible display technology isn't slated to hit the market until 2012, but the Korean manufacturer is already giving us a glimpse of how it may transform our lives, with a freshly released concept video. Yes, it's just a concept ad, and a relatively brief one at that, but it still paints a pretty mouth-watering portrait -- one full of transparent, flexible screens, smartphone-tablet hybrids, and augmented reality. Check it out for yourself, after the break.
Korean bendy memory could make plenty of trendy tech
Flexible displays aren't much good unless there's flexible memory alongside. It's been attempted before, but bending memory pushes the individual transistors so close that they begin to interfere with one another -- causing degradation and shortening the device lifespan to just a single day. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has solved the problem by pairing transistors with memristors, which are immune to such annoyances. By fixing both inside a flexible substrate, you can push them as near as you like without any electo-radiation spanners jamming up the works. This also means that the flexible RRAM behaves just like flash memory; maybe in the future it won't just be antennas sewn into our clothes.
Samsung to offer flexible displays in 2012, challenges Nokia to a twist contest
Flexible displays? Samsung's got 'em, too. A few days after Nokia showed off its Kinetic Device prototype under the blue lights of Nokia World, Samsung made mention of its own plans to unleash some bendy mobile devices on the world. A spokesperson for the company was scarce on details, but noted that the flexible displays are targeted for 2012. The technology, which was showcased at this year's CES, will initially be incorporated into handsets, with tablets following down the road.
Polymer Vision drops the ball on its flexible display, literally
Flexible displays may well be the future, but it's not hard to see that they won't truly be practical unless they're also as durable as they are flexible. Polymer Vision is well aware of that fact, of course, and it's now gone to some "extreme" lengths to demonstrate the progress it's made on that front. See the results for yourself in the video above.
Engadget Primed: all mobile displays are not created equal
Primed goes in-depth on the technobabble you hear on Engadget every day -- we dig deep into each topic's history and how it benefits our lives. Looking to suggest a piece of technology for us to break down? Drop us a line at primed *at* engadget *dawt* com. The quality of a mobile phone's display is arguably the most important factor to consider when you establish a relationship with a handset. It's inescapable, really. Whether you're playing a rousing game of Robot Unicorn Attack or (regrettably) drunk-dialing an ex, it's the one interface element that you're consistently interacting with. It's your window to the world and your canvas for creation, and if it's lousy, it's going to negatively influence everything you see and do. Today, we're delving into the world of mobile displays, where we're aiming to entertain and edify, and hopefully save you from making regrettable decisions -- when it comes to purchasing new phones, anyway. In this edition of Primed, we'll be examining the different qualities and underlying technologies of several displays, starting with the ubiquitous TFT-LCD and moving through the nascent realm of glasses-free 3D and beyond. We'll also be addressing the importance of resolution and pixel density. Finally, we'll be scoping out a handful of upcoming technologies -- while some are thoroughly intriguing, others are just plain wacky. Go ahead... buy the ticket, take the ride, and join us after the break. It's Primed time.
Silver-ink pen freestyles handmade circuitry, paves way for flexible displays
We've never been the type to appreciate luxury pens, but if said pen was packing a silver-based ink solution that left behind a trail of conductivity... well, our pocket-protector would be very much at its disposal. Announced today, this evolution in penmanship tech has two great University of Illinois minds to thank -- Professors Jennifer Lewis and Jennifer Bernhard. That's right, the two Jennifers schemed up a desktop solution that could see flexible displays and disposable devices coming soon to your pocket (or garbage pail). By eschewing pricey inkjet printers for a low-cost hand-crafted approach, the creators hope future multimedia artists and the engineering-inclined will try their hand at innovative uses. We always knew the pen was mightier than the sword, but now it's just plain Mighty. See the circuit writer in action after the break.
