With Apple's new product launch event due in four days, the web is buzzing with rumors. It seems that a new iPhone (two models, actually, 4.7" and 5.7") is pretty much confirmed, but what about the long-rumored iWatch?

The Wall Street Journal reports that the iWatch is indeed ready to launch, even though it will only ship in 2015. The smart timepiece will come in two sizes - and both will use curved (flexible) OLED displays. Other reported features are NFC and health/fitness sensors.

BASF opened a new R&D center for electronic materials at Sungkyunkwan University in Korea. The new center will focus on materials for next-generation display technologies - specifically OLED displays and flexible displays (OLEDs and e-paper displays).

The new center will support local researchers - and will provide internships and training programs. BASF hopes to team up with local small and medium companies for joint development and marketing.

LG Electronics launched a new limited edition premium curved OLED TV with design support from Swarovski. The OLED TV offers "shimmering crystals complemented by the brilliant, precise colors of the OLED's self-lighting pixels": 

Strangely, this TV is based on LG's 2013 model, the 55EA9800 and not their newer 55EC9300 launched in 2014. Anyway, it includes about 460 luminescent Aurora Borealis crystals of three different sizes that were applied by hand using specially made stencils. LG did not say when they'll release the TV, but it'll probably be very expensive. The regular 55EA9800 is not in production anymore, but retailers still offer it - usually for less than $3,000.

A few days ago LG Electronics launched the beautiful G Watch R smartwatch, with its 1.3" (320x320) flexible plastic-based OLED panel. Today LG Display announced that it started mass producing those OLED panels.

While it was pretty clear that LGD is behind this flexible OLED, it's good to hear a formal confirmation. LG Display further tells us that the panel is less than 0.6 mm thick and features a 100% color gamut (not sure which standard is that), 300 nit peak luminance and of course an "unlimited" contrast ratio.

LG's 55EC9300 55" curved FHD OLED TV is now shipping in the US for $3,499. LG's OLED TV is shipping from Amazon, and it's also featured in more than 1,000 Best Buy stores in the US, and other retailers.

The EC9300 is LG's 2014 55" FHD OLED TV modem that features a faster refresh rate (240 Hz) compared to the 2013 model, the 55EA9800, and it's brighter, too, at 500 cd/m². LG changed the TV's design and the TV is now based on LG's new smart TV platform (WebOS).

Asus announced their first Smart Watch - The ZenWatch. This is an Android Wear smart watch that features a 1.63" 320x320 AMOLED display, a 1.2 Ghz CPU, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage and a battery that should last over a day. It also features a heart rate sensor.

According to my sources, the AMOLED supplier is not Samsung Display (even though they also produce a 1.63" 320x320 OLED) but AU Optronics. If true this is the first commercial product that uses an AMOLED from AU Optronics (well, actually in 2006 AUO produced 2" AMOLEDs, but they stopped production shortly after and only resumed it in 2014).

As expected, Samsung announced the Galaxy Note 4, and the display is indeed a QHD (2560x1440) Super AMOLED panel. The exciting news (which I did not expect) is the Galaxy Note 4 Edge - the curved edge variant!

So first of all - you can see the Galaxy Note 4 Edge above. It sports a 5.6" QHD (2560x1440) display, with an extra 160-pixels on the right edge (Samsung calls this QHD+). The bent edge (besides being unique and probably very cool) can show notifications, application icons or simply controls when you want the full screen to show a video for example.

IDTechEx released a new OLED lighting report (OLED Lighting Opportunities 2014-2025) in which they forecast that the OLED lighting market will remain small until 2019 (below $200 million - by the panel level) but will then start growing until it reaches $1.9 billion by 2025.

IDTechEx estimates that the architectural, hospitality and shop segments will be the first to grow, as in these markets the design parameter counts the most. Automotive is also promising, but lifetime and reliability issues has to be resolved first.

Following is a sponsored post from Smithers Apex:

All of the key players in OLED lighting and displays will be in Berkeley, CA just outside of San Francisco in two weeks! At the OLEDs World Summit 2014, you’ll hear directly from LG Display, Novaled, BASF, Audi, Acuity Brands Lighting, Konica Minolta, DuPont Displays, Panasonic, Visionox, BOE, Philips Lighting and many others. OLED-info.com readers can save an additional $100 off of the conference fee by using code OLEDINFOVIP when registering online. This code is not retroactive.

This is a global event and the world’s decision makers will be in attendance. Organizations already registered to attend include 3M, Apple, Corning, European Patent Office, Honda R & D, Kateeva, Motorola Mobility, Pixelligent, Samsung and more. There is no other gathering that will give you unlimited, unfiltered access to those who will grow your understanding of OLED technology and show you how to remain competitive in today’s rapidly evolving lighting markets.

Philips today announced the Lumiblade Innovators Club - a call for 100 worldwide lighting developer partners that will "take OLED lighting to the next level", and invest in the future of lighting.

This innovators club (which costs €5,000 to join) gives access to a special support team and technical advice - and most crucially Philips' marketing and media support. Philips actually wants to make these partners the central subject of its OLED brand campaign.