In October 2013, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) launched a new flexible OLED lighting project called R2D2. This two-year 5.9 million Euro project, which was finally exposed now, aims to investigate new production technologies, including roll-to-roll techniques. One of the main subjects of investigation will be the system integration of flexible OLEDs in automobiles, aircraft and household applications.

The project is based on results from previous BMBF projects - R2Flex, So-Light and TOPAS2012. The consortium leader is Fraunhofer FEP, and other partners include OSRAM, Novaled, Audi, Hella, and others.

A senior VP at LGD recently declared in the IMID Display Business Forum in Korea that according to measurements done by the company, LCD screens emit 3.1 times more blue light than OLED screens. The measurements were done 120 cm away from TVs, 60 mm from monitors and 30 cm from smartphones (TVs are larger and emit more blue light than other types of screens).

Blue light is high energy visible light, widely acknowledged to bear harmful effects like discomfort to the eye and damage to the retina, as well as serve as a contributing factor to diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity and insomnia. Children seem to have delicate retinas that are highly susceptible to the dangers of blue light.

Samsung Electronics' TV chief, Kim Hyun-seok, says that Samsung will not release any OLED TVs in 2014 or in 2015. Samsung will focus on UHD TVs, and also may release Quantum-Dots enhanced LCDs next year.

Back in January 2014, a Samsung executive was quoted saying that OLED manufacturing issues have been more significant than previously though and that cheap OLED TVs are still 3-4 years away. While Samsung did not abandon the OLED market as some suggested, the company is still struggling with the technology.

According to an Israeli reporter, LG Electronics is developing a mini-version of the curved G Flex phone. The reporter says he saw a prototype phone during a visit to LG's phone factory in Korea, and when he asked his host, he did not deny this. LG hasn't released a flexible OLED phone (or any OLED phone, for that matter) for over a year (The G Flex was announced in October 2013).

LG's G Flex was the first device to use LG Display's flexible plastic OLED display. The G Flex has a 6" 720p flexible OLED display that is curved from top to bottom (unlike Samsung's Galaxy Round which is curved from left to right). The G Flex used a curved battery produced by LG Chem.

Last month LG released the G Watch R smartwatch in Korea (for 352,000 Won, or $330), and today AT&T started offering it in the US as well. The G Watch R costs $299 in AT&T's online store. The watch will also be available in Europe and other key markets soon.

The G Watch R uses a 1.3" (320x320) flexible plastic-based OLED panel, Android Wear OS, a 1.2 Ghz Snapdragon 400 CPU, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage. It has a 410 mAh battery which should last about a single day.

AT&T announced that it will start accepting Galaxy Note Edge orders on November 7th. The Note Edge will carry a $100 premium over the Galaxy Note 4 - so it will cost $399.99 with a two-year contract. AT&T will also sell it unlocked for $945.99.

The Galaxy Note Edge is a Note 4 variant that includes a flexible Super AMOLED display that curves around the right edge. The "main" display is a 5.6" QHD (2560x1440), and the right-stripe adds 160 rows that display icons or notifications.

In June 2014, Japan's Semiconductor Energy Laboratory (SEL), in collaboration with Nokia, unveiled new foldable OLED display prototypes - 5.9" 1280x720 (249 PPI) ones, which can be folded in two or in three (these were two different prototypes).

Last month in Japan SEL unveiled new prototypes. The new panels are bigger at 8.7" and offer a higher resolution (1920x1080, 254 PPI). The new panels are also touch-enabled. And they are still tri-folded like the ones shown in June.

Taiwan's PMOLED maker WiseChip Semiconductors is entering the OLED lighting market. The company licensed technology developed at Taiwan's National Tsing-Hua University. WiseChip's new technology enables OLED lighting panels that emit light akin to candle light - with a high CRI (93) and a vision-friendly 1,914K.

WiseChip aims to start OLED lighting mass production towards the end of 2014 or in early 2015. They say that these OLEDs do not emit high Kelvin blue light which is hazardous to eyes and also carcinogenic.

Samsung announced two new mid-range phones aimed towards the youth market, both with Super AMOLED displays. First up we have the Galaxy A5, which Samsung says is their slimmest phone ever at 6.7 mm. The A5 sports a 5" 720p Super AMOLED display, 13mp camera, 5mp front camera for selfie shots, 1.2Ghz CPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage memory and a 2,300 mAh battery. As in several of Samsung's latest smartphones, it uses a stylish metal body.

The second phone is the Galaxy A3, the A5's smaller sibling - with a 4.5" qHD (960x540) display. It looks pretty similar, but it's actually thicker at 6.9 mm. The specifications are a little below the A5: a 8mp camera (same 5mp front camera), 1,900 mAh battery, 1.2Ghz quadcore CPU, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage memory.

Last month LG cut the price of their 55" FHD OLED TVs in Korea, and the company now released the first OLED sales figures ever, saying that they sold over a thousand units in October. LG also said that sales of OLED TV increased twenty-fold compared to 2013.

This still does not tell us much of course. Two months ago, it was already reported that LG sells more OLED TVs each month than it did in the whole of 2013. In addition, the Korean market is important for LG of course, but it's not LG's largest market (which currently seems to be China, at least for UHD OLED TVs).