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Your future smartphone's screen will hardly need any power
As you're likely all too aware, smartphone screens chew up a lot of power -- that's why turning down your brightness frequently does more to save energy than closing an app. If Bodle Technologies has its way, though, your display will be a virtual non-issue. It's developing a phase change material that uses virtually no power, but is still sharp, vivid and visible in bright sunlight. While a lot about the technology remains a secret, it revolves around sending electrical pulses to flexible, transparent layers.
ASUS' updated 32-inch 4K monitor does the full Adobe color gamut
Following the $2,200 ProArt PA328Q semi-professional 32-inch, 4K 16:9 monitor announced at last year's Computex, ASUS is back with a follow-up model dubbed PA329Q. The most notable improvement here is it now delivers 100 percent Adobe RGB color gamut, as opposed to just sRGB; plus it has a 16-bit internal lookup table instead of just 12-bit. For those who are into video production, you'll also appreciate the added support for the BT2020 / DCI-P3 color space. The new display is otherwise almost identical to its predecessor: You get the same set of ports (1x HDMI 2.0, 2x HDMI 1.4, 1x DisplayPort 1.2, 1x Mini DisplayPort 1.2 and 4x USB 3.0) and the same 10-bit display color. Each unit is also factory pre-calibrated for high consistency, although it also boasts "the highest compatibility with major hardware calibrators," should you wish to do it yourself. We'll come back with more info regarding availability if we hear any.
LG's super-thin OLED screen sticks to your wall using magnets
Forget buying a clunky wall mount for your TV... what if you could stick it up like a fridge magnet? LG Display is hoping you'll do just that. The company has unveiled a 55-inch OLED screen that's so thin and light (0.04 inches and 4.2 pounds) that you can put it on your wall using a magnetic mat. The design doesn't exactly leave room for much else -- you'd probably need a breakout box for TV functions -- but it raises the possibility of big-screen sets that easily blend into your living room's decor. Unfortunately, LG isn't saying if or when this panel will translate into a real product. You'll most likely have to settle for the company's more conventional OLED TVs in the short term, including a giant 99-incher due this year.
Butterfly wings are the key to glare-free phone displays
Butterflies have proven to be a surprising source of inspiration for technology, and that trend isn't about to slow down any time soon. German researchers have discovered that irregular, nanoscopic structures on the glasswing butterfly's namesake transparent wings eliminate most reflections at any angle -- perfect for phones, camera lenses and most any other device where display glare is a problem. The scientists have yet to completely recreate this surface in the lab, but they foresee a future where you're not struggling to read your smartphone outdoors. And the kicker? Prototypes are already self-cleaning and water-repellant, so you wouldn't need extra coatings to keep your screens largely smudge-free. [Image credit: Radwanul Hasan Siddique, KIT]
Neptune outs dumb screens, accessories for its weirdo wrist computer
Technology is all about big ideas, and this one from Simon Tian will probably need its own aircraft hangar. The creator of the Neptune Pine believes that it's time for us to ditch our smartphone, laptop and set-top-box in favor of the Neptune Hub. As we reported, the Neptune Hub is a wrist-worn computer that crams the guts of a smartphone into a chunky plastic bracelet. Instead of using the hardware as a phone, however, users are encouraged to bring along a dumb screen that connects to the Hub. But that's the beginning of Tian's idea, not the end.
New video spec clears the way for 8K laptop screens
Think your 4K laptop or 5K iMac is hot stuff? If specification developers have their way, both will soon be old hat. The Video Electronics Standards Association has unveiled Embedded DisplayPort 1.4a, a new format that lets all-in-ones and laptops use 8K screens (7,680 x 4,320, if you want to be exact). The technology uses compression to squeeze more data into the video feed, and it can divide displays into two or four segments to help the pipeline cope with all those extra pixels.
Gorilla Glass 4 shouldn't shatter when you drop your phone
Plenty of mobile device screens can easily resist minor cracks and scratches, but let's be honest -- those aren't the biggest problems. No, the real crisis comes when you drop your phone and the display shatters into many pieces. Thankfully, Corning is tackling that accident-related damage in earnest with Gorilla Glass 4. The newly formulated cover material is designed to survive collisions with rough surfaces, like the sidewalk. It's reportedly very effective, if imperfect. While conventional soda-lime glass will always break if you drop it from a meter (3.3 feet) above the ground, Gorilla Glass 4 will remain intact 80 percent of the time. You shouldn't be careless, in other words, but the added resistance could mean the difference between a costly out-of-warranty repair and carrying on with your day.
60 seconds with a giant, rollable display for your mobile devices
At some point, you've probably wished that your smartphone had a much larger screen to watch a movie or get work done... but you can't always lug a desktop display or tablet around, can you? If Insert Coin finalist RollRR has its way, you won't have to. It's developing rollable displays that would give your mobile devices a lot more visual real estate without consuming much space in your bag. The prototype on the Engadget Expand show floor is a 10.7-inch roll of e-paper attached to a giant tube, but the ultimate goal is to fit a 21-inch or larger screen (ideally, full color plastic OLED) into a gadget the size of a small umbrella. It's also considering touch technology like 3M's silver nanowires, so RollRR could expand your input area, too -- you could edit a large image on your phone just by unrolling the sheet on a table.
Apple Watch has a smaller screen in tweaked video
Apple has released a new version of its Apple Watch design video, and a perceptive viewer noticed a slightly different design from the original. Most noticeable is a smaller sapphire screen and larger bezel on the Watch render, which appears to more closely match the prototype hardware we saw last month. None of this too surprising -- Apple had no doubt prepared the video using 3D renders before the final design was locked, and the changes are small enough that most folks won't care. Still, it does make us wonder if there may be more fine-tuning before production starts in January, especially given rumors of battery-life issues.
CarKarPlay display mirrors your smartphone on your dashboard
Remember the good old days when mini Bluetooth keyboards just became a thing? Then you may recall a brand called iPazzPort, who is now launching what appears to be the world's first wireless display dedicated to mobile devices. Much like the brand, the device itself is just as awkwardly named: CarKarPlay. It's pretty much just a 7-inch, 800 x 480 screen with WiFi radio for AirPlay, Miracast and DLNA connections, meaning it'll support wireless screen mirroring from iOS plus Android, as well as media streaming from DLNA-enabled apps or devices -- including some Windows Phones. As the name suggests, it's all about having a bigger screen in your car.
Microsoft wants its smartphone screens to touch you back
While your fingers are in firmly in control of hand-held devices, they're guided strictly by your eyes -- and Microsoft thinks that's a waste of your sense of touch. Researcher Hong Tan found that using so-called haptics to add tactile sensations to screens can have some concrete benefits. For instance, by adding a keyboard-like "click" feeling to a Surface keyboard cover, one study showed that subjects could type faster and more accurately on it. Other potential uses include enhanced interfaces that let you feel resistance when you move a folder on the screen, or the ability to feel "textures" like rough cloth on a screen.
Monitor overkill?
A wise man once told me that for every additional monitor on your desk, your productivity is cut in half. If that's true, then nobody is getting any work done in this office. I'm all for having an obnoxious amount of screen real estate at your disposal, but this might be pushing things a bit. Bonus points for the wallpaper which seems to fit perfectly in each window, but the question remains: How many monitors is too many? [Photo credit: Blakespot]
New film makes shatterproof phone screens a practical possibility
Sure, the screen on your smartphone is likely scratch-resistant, but it still won't survive a drop to the sidewalk. However, that could all change if University of Akron scientists get their shatterproof touchscreen film into shipping hardware. They've developed transparent electrodes that, when layered on polymer surfaces, are just as transparent as current technology (indium tin oxide) but much more durable. You can bend them over 1,000 times without breaking, and they also hold up against peeling.
The PhoneStation uses your smartphone as a head-mounted display
You'll find plenty of knockoff wearables at a trade show like Computex, but there are always a few gems mixed in among the boring copycats. Exhibit A: View Phone Technology, a little-known Taiwanese company, is showing off a head-mounted 3D display that puts content from your phone directly before your eyes. The aptly named PhoneStation converts video to 3D, letting you use any handset to stream movies and TV shows directly from YouTube.
Tesco fixing Hudl screen responsiveness issues with new update
It's fair to say Tesco's Hudl has been a success: the company has sold more than half a million units and is prepping a new model for release later this year. It hasn't been all plain sailing for the supermarket giant though, as some of its Android slates shipped with a display issue that would often cripple the tablet by rendering the screen unresponsive. Tesco, to its credit, has been quick to replace customers' Hudls no questions asked, but it may not need to anymore after it's begun rolling out an Android update that eliminates those exact issues. The company tells us that some updates have passed Google certification and are already hitting affected Hudls, but it could take up to three weeks for the fix to reach everyone.
Philips' 27-inch monitor with NVIDIA's G-Sync tempts gamers with silky-smooth visuals
When NVIDIA unveiled its G-Sync tech that alleviates lag, screen tearing, and stuttering, it counted Philips among the companies that would make monitors with its secret sauce. Now that CES has rolled around, Philips has finally revealed a panel that uses the graphic titan's technology. The panel (catchily dubbed 272G5DYEB) measures up at 27 inches and carries a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080, a 144Hz refresh rate, 1,000:1 contrast ratio and displays up to 16.7 million colors. If you're fixing to connect the screen to your PC via HDMI, you're out of luck as it only sports a DisplayPort. Enjoying the buttery visuals will drain your pockets of $649 when the monitor arrives this spring. Of course, if you can't wait till then, a modified ASUS VG248QE is already available with G-Sync from a handful of boutique PC outfits.
Japan Display joins the Quad HD phone screen party with two new LCDs
LG clearly doesn't have a monopoly on Quad HD smartphone screens -- Japan Display has unveiled two low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) LCDs that offer the extra-sharp 2,560 x 1,440 resolution. The headlining 5.4-inch panel is ever so slightly denser than its Korean equivalent, at 543ppi; there's also a 6.2-inch (473ppi) model for giant devices. Both LCDs have "dead-bands" that are just 1mm thick, which should lead to extra-slim bezels on finished products. Japan Display hasn't said which companies will use the Quad HD screens, but it's easy to see one of the joint venture's partners (Hitachi, Sony or Toshiba) calling first dibs.
LG confirms production of 'bendable and unbreakable' smartphone displays
It's been a long time coming, but LG's foray into elastic smartphone displays is finally going mainstream. The company has confirmed that it will begin mass-producing a new lightweight 6-inch panel that, it claims, is the world's first flexible OLED panel for smartphones. The display is built from plastic substrates that give it bendable properties, allowing it to be fixed inside devices with curved (but likely rigid) designs. Reports suggest LG could include its first flexible screen inside the G Flex, a new 6-inch smartphone set to be announced next month, but the company points to new products with "enhanced performance and differentiated designs" coming next year. Something tells us LG may move quickly to announce its first such product, with Samsung strongly tipped to unveil its own exotically-shaped smartphone next month. It's probable that both devices will be artistically bent to achieve their form, so we'll probably have to wait a little longer for something that actually bends into our jean pockets.
LG Display claims a world's first with 2,560 x 1,440 LCD for smartphones
Full HD displays? Eat your heart out, handset manufacturers. LG Display has just laid claim to the world's first Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440) smartphone display, which also boasts the highest pixel density of a mobile device, clocking in at 538ppi. The firm's panel measures up at 5.5-inches and is only 1.21mm thick, and just 1.2mm at its bezel. According to LG, that makes it the world's slimmest and narrowest panel, stealing the crown from hardware it showed off last month. Thanks to its use of AH-IPS tech and Low Temperature Poly-Silicon (LTPS) substrate, the screen features 430 nits of brightness. If the Quad HD math is throwing you off, that's four times as many pixels as a 1,280 x 720 display. This isn't 4K on a portable display, but we'll take it.
iCracked banks on your clumsiness
A broken iPhone is no joy. I've seen many a mom jump out of a car to pick up her kids at school only to have her iPhone go flying off her lap and onto the pavement. Until recently, getting an iPhone fixed was a time-consuming and costly affair. Megan Hess from Mashable introduces us to a pair of ingenious guys who have started a very useful business devoted to fixing your broken iOS devices in her article, "iCracked is Banking on Your Cracked iPhone Screen." The article gives you a comprehensive overview of iCracked and its founders. iCracked is a fledgling company that now boasts over 300 on-demand "iTechs" residing in 11 countries. Their sole mission currently is to fix your iPhones, iPads and iPods with a minimum of hassle. They not only repair cracked screens, but replace batteries and other broken parts, plus they repair water damage. Their repairs come with a 99-year warranty, which is a bit longer than most devices will last. iCracked will come to you to make repairs and they plan to expand into every major city in the world. If they do not have technicians near where you live yet, you can opt to purchase a Do-It-Yourself Repair Kit. You can also mail your device to iCracked headquarters for repair. Other services iCracked offers include a store in which you can buy fix-it tools, their repair kits and selected accessories. And last, but not least, you can even sell your device back to them and get a check, put the funds in your PayPal account or donate the funds to a national charity.
