Tag Archives: FlexibleDisplay

E Ink reference phone and flexible display hands-ons (video)

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DNP Eink reference phone and flexible display handsons 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: E Ink prototype hands-on

Gallery: E Ink flexible display prototype hands-on

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Apple patent app describes flexible, wearable, watch-like AMOLED device

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Apple patent application pairs a flexible screen with a slap bracelet for, you know, your wrist

Apples and oranges watches. Today's bumper pack of patent applications from Cupertino included this nugget, outlining a small flexible screen that's paired with a "bi-stable spring." In normal lexicon, we're talking about one of those slap bracelets that go from completely straight to wrap-around in an instant. Interestingly enough, Apple isn't the only tech company sniffing around these bracelets as a possible holster for their tech -- Nokia mused on slightly similar notions back in March 2012.

This is an application, so most of what today's filing tells us is certainly not set in stone, but new ideas include a "kinetic energy gathering component" within the band -- like the trickle charge feature found on watches -- to pump energy back into the device. One example embodiment of the idea includes a touchscreen interface that will allow music browsing, phone call reviews and even text input through a "simple virtual keyboard." The concept also mentions AMOLED screen tech, as those deactivated (so, black) pixels would assist in eking out battery life in a device where space is definitely at a premium. The filing also suggests that the device could house an end-detection sensor, allowing the wearable to configure itself to each user, regardless of differing wrist measurements, and deactivate sections of the flexible display that aren't on show. This particular application was made in August 2011 -- a fair while before the recent increase in iWatch murmurings. As is the case with Apple's patent contributions, however, we'll wait to see whether the patent is granted and whether these ideas will ever crystallize into a genuine product. In the meantime, maybe it's time to buy up some snap bracelets on eBay: they might just be making a comeback.

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Source: USPTO

NYT: Apple experimenting with wrist-worn iOS devices using curved glass (updated)

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NYT Apple experimenting with wristworn iOS devices using curved glass

Rumors of Apple building a watch-like device have existed since time immemorial -- they've built up the same near-mythical status that the iPhone did pre-2007, or a TV set does today. The New York Times, however, claims that the watch concept exists as more than just some fan art. Reportedly, Apple has been "experimenting" with wrist-wearable devices that would run iOS and use curved glass. Other details are left to feverish speculation, although the OS choice suggests it would be more than just a glorified iPod nano watch. Before we get too excited, we'd do well to remember that any testing in a design lab doesn't equate to production plans: the company might well scrap its work before it ever becomes public, if it's indeed real to start with. Still, there have been enough advances in flexible displays and miniaturization that the notion of connected, wearable Apple gear is no longer as far-fetched as it once seemed.

Update: Not to be left out, the Wall Street Journal has made a similar claim. It adds that Apple has explored possibilities with its contract manufacturer Foxconn, although there's not much more to learn at this stage.

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Source: New York Times

Intel, Plastic Logic and Queen’s U build the PaperTab: a flexible e-paper tablet (video)

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Intel, Plastic Logic and Queen's University build the PaperTab a flexible, epaper tablet concept video

Plastic Logic may have bowed out of building its own e-readers, but that's not stopping the company from making its presence felt at CES. It's teaming up with Intel and Queen's University on the PaperTab, a 10.7-inch tablet concept built around a flexible, e-paper touchscreen. The prototype runs a Sandy Bridge-era Core i5 processor that lets it stand on its own, but it's ultimately designed to work as part of a team: position awareness lets multiple PaperTabs join together to share a work area, and tapping one tablet with content can send it to a waiting document in another. The bendy nature isn't just for durability and a paper-like feel, either, as readers can flip through pages just by bending the relevant side. A fuller reveal is planned for January 8th, but you can get an initial sense of how the plastic slate works through the video after the break.

Gallery: Intel and Plastic Logic PaperTab

Continue reading Intel, Plastic Logic and Queen's U build the PaperTab: a flexible e-paper tablet (video)

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Source: Queen's University

Samsung Display teases 5.5-inch flexible 720p display for demo at CES

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Samsung Display teases 55inch flexible 720p display for demo at CES

Curious to know all the wonders that are in store for this year's CES? Well, in addition to our previews, Samsung Display -- a recent spinoff from the Korean giant -- has let it be known that it'll demo a 5.5-inch flexible 720p display at this year's tech mecca. Keep this in mind, though: what we'll see is merely a component that could one day find its way into a smartphone, rather than a finished product that's meant for consumers. Samsung Display also wants to ground your expectations that while its screens bend without breaking, they're not designed to roll up. Nonetheless, we're looking forward to getting our grubby mitts all over 'em as we dream of what might be.

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Source: CNET

LG gets patent for mobile UI that reacts to flexible displays, encourages origami

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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.

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LG gets patent for mobile UI that reacts to flexible displays, encourages origami originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 13:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TshirtOS is web-connected, programmable, 100 percent cotton (video)

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TshirtOS is webconnected, programmable, 100 percent cotton

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.

Continue reading TshirtOS is web-connected, programmable, 100 percent cotton (video)

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TshirtOS is web-connected, programmable, 100 percent cotton (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 05:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG selected to develop 60-inch flexible OLED by 2017

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LG OLED

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.

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LG selected to develop 60-inch flexible OLED by 2017 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Jul 2012 23:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Corning unveils slim, flexible Willow Glass (video)

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Corning unveils slim, flexible Willow Glass

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.

Continue reading Corning unveils slim, flexible Willow Glass (video)

Corning unveils slim, flexible Willow Glass (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jun 2012 09:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Copper-nickel nanowires from Duke University could make ubiquitous printable circuits

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Nanowires

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.

Copper-nickel nanowires from Duke University could make ubiquitous printable circuits originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 04:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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