December 2008

OQO is said to be launching a new OQO Ulta Mobile PC (UMPC) - the new Model 2+ will include a new processor, world-wide 3G and a touchscreen OLED display. 

OQO Model 02+

The external 'case' is said to be the same. The 'old' model 2 specs were a 5" WVGA LCD display, with 800x480 resolution - which makes you wonder because there are currently no such OLED panels available. 

UPDATE - the OQO Model 2+ is officially released, and indeed has a 5" OLED!

Engadget just posted a review of Cowon's S9 Curve player. They love the AMOLED display - 

"The 480 x 272 resolution
screen is positively gorgeous to look at, displaying rich, vivid colors
on everything lucky enough to tickle its pixels. Video looked superb,
images were almost unbelievably sharp and bright, and the overall user
interface was quite a joy to gaze at.

Other PMP makers should definitely
give AMOLED a look"

The S9 curve
has a touchscreen 3.3" (480x272) AMOLED display. It also has a 500Mhz
dual-core CPU, bluetooth, FM radio, TV out and a USB2 connector. You can buy it from Amazon!

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will begin in a week or so (9th of January). In previous years we have seen many new OLED product annoncements in this conference, and I guess this year will be exciting as well.

So what can we expect this year?

OLED TVs

Sony is said to be launching their 27" OLED TV (the XEL-2?) by May 2009, so we'll definitly see an advance prototype or even a product announcement at CES.

Sony 27" OLED prototype at CES 2008

Samsung has said that they are "delaying" their OLED TVs, but we're still likely to see their 40" HD OLED TV, and also their 31" panels on show, maybe with some updates on release plans (currently slated for 2009 or 2010).

Samsung 40" HD-AMOLED TV Prototype

Other companies that might show new OLED TVs include LG (lately they have been showing their 19" OLED TV), CMEL (with their new MEM technology), Panasonic and perhaps TMDisplay as well.

25" OLED prototype by CMEL (FPD 2008)

Medium and Small OLED panels

Samsung has been showing their 14.1" AMOLED panels for a long time now. They have previously claimed these will be available by 2009 or 2010. They might officially announce them at CES. This will be most interesting, as these panels might be superb for laptops!

Samsung Electronics 14" OLED prototype

Small AMOLEDs are now common place, but we always welcome more new panels. Currently CMEL is making the largest available panel - 7.6". We might hear of larger ones from CMEL and perhaps from Samsung too.

Gadgets

We except to see a lot of new devices using the new AMOLED panels, in sizes 3" and 4". Mobile phones, PMPs, digital photo frames and other gadgets. 

There are rumors that Sony will release a new walkman with a large touchscreen 3" AMOLED display, we'll have to wait and see on that one.

Sony touchscreen AMOLED player

CMEL's 7.6" panels are available for quite some time now, with only one device using them (Kodak's digital photo frame). It's about time we'll hear of new gadgets using these beautiful, larger displays. 

Kodak wireless OLED picture frame

Prototypes

We have seen some great flexible and transparent displays, mostly from Samsung. I'm not sure if CES is the right place to announce new prototypes, but it'll be nice to catch a glimpse of those beautiful new technologies. 

Samsung 0.05mm 'flapping' 4" AMOLED prototype

Samsung has been showing flexible and transparent display lately, so hopefully we'll see some new prototypes. 

According to KoreaTimes, Samsung is planning to convert 3 or 4 LCD production lines to AMOLEDs. The production lines are in Samsung's complex in Tangjeong, South Chungcheong Province.

We're happy to announce the OLED-Info newsletter. This monthly newsletter will include a summary of last month's most exciting OLED news, product reviews, company spotlights and more. This is a great alternative to our RSS feed (which simply includes all stories).

Subscription is free and easy!

Happy holidays!

The nice guys at UnitedKeys sent me one of their OLED keyboards for a review. So first of all, Let's start with a quick video showing the keyboard and seeing how keys can be customized:

Researchers and Engineers at Florida University are working on OLED white light, funded by the US Department of Energy. They have successfully built a blue OLED with a 50lm/w efficiency.

The final target for the project is 100lm/w. 

Sony will release a new VAIO Laptop at CES 2009. They have a countdown timer and a teaser line at Sony's NZ page - "On the 9th of January you will change the way you look at laptops. Forever. In the inner page they promise "new VAIO Technology".

Are they preparing an OLED laptop? Soon we'll found out. There are already rumors about a Sony OLED touchscreen walkman.

We're happy to announce a new feature at OLED-Info: the OLED jobs board. We hope this will quickly become a place where OLED professionals can find openings, and companies can use to find employees.

So this is a call for all HR people at OLED companies - please post your openings - it is free!

Cowon's S9 Curve, the long-awaited AMOLED A/V player is now available to buy from Amazon.com. The 16GB version is listed for 240$.

Cowon s9 PMP, available from Amazon

The S9 curve
has a touchscreen 3.3" (480x272) AMOLED display. It also has a 500Mhz
dual-core CPU, bluetooth, FM radio, TV out and a USB2 connector.