July 2006

India's Samtel Industries will start manufacturing organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays for mobile phones by 2008. According to Satish Kaura, chief managing director, a working prototype is ready. "We can go for a pilot project now; in 18 months we expect to go for commercial production."

"The prototype is passive matrix, but we have plans to eventually enter the active-matrix segment," said Dr Deepak Gupta, project director.

UDC nnounced that it has been awarded two new Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grants for $100,000 each from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the enhancement of white OLED lighting technology using the Company's high-efficiency PHOLED technology and materials.

In the first Phase I grant, Universal Display will team with its research partners at the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California to demonstrate a simplified path to a low-cost, highly-efficient WOLED™ white OLED lighting device. Research will focus on a device structure that employs only two emissive PHOLED dopants, instead of the current three dopant approaches, to achieve white emission.

The second Phase I grant, also in conjunction with the University of Michigan researchers, aims to increase WOLED device efficiency. Specifically, research will key on increasing light outcoupling efficiency. This will be done through reducing the refractive index contrast between the OLED layer of the device and the substrate. The team seeks to demonstrate a novel device structure with a record 50% total outcoupling efficiency.

CDT has entered new geographical territory with the sale of inkjet printing equipment to the Genius Institute of Technology in Brazil. The Institute will use the equipment to develop its expertise in inkjet printing for polymer organic light emitting diode (PLED) technology.

The Litrex 70 printer is capable of printing on substrates up to 200 mm square at up to 120 pixels per inch, and is ideal for research and development of PLED materials and devices.

Sony will release a completely redesigned sports series flash memory-based network Walkman in the September/October timeframe. It will be available in two versions, the silver-colored 1GB NW-S203F ($150 $120) and the black-colored 2GB NW-S205F ($120 $150).

Not only does it also have an FM tuner, but its one-line organic EL display is easy to see in the dark, and it takes just three minutes to charge up the batteries for three hours of playback, or total of 18 hours of battery life on a full charge.

LG Electronics Inc. is in negotiations to sell off its OLED business line to its display panel joint venture LG.Philips LCD Co., Ltd., a senior LG executive said during presentations on the company's second quarter earnings.

LG Electronics currently operates two PM-OLED production lines in Gumi, South Korea, with a combined annual production capacity of 2 to 3 million PM-OLED display units for use in mobile phones. Since 1999, the company has invested a total of Won 200 billion (about $208 million) in its OLED business, according to LG.