OLED devices - Page 4

Camera maker RED announced their next generation EVF - the Bomb OLED EVF. We do not have a lot of technical information, but RED says that the OLED microdisplay (maker unknown) improves the contrast ratio "dramatically", and reduces the power consumption by almost 75% (compared to the older LCoS EVF). The temperature operating range improved to -46C/70C (from -10C/50C) and the Black uniformity and White uniformity is now near 100%. The resolution is 1,280x848.

The OLED Bomb EVF costs $3900 and is now in stock. LCoS EVF owners can upgrade for $1,200. Here's a nice video from Engadget showing RED's new accessory line, including the EVF:

Sony's Smartwatch is now shipping. Sony says it costs $150, although amazon lists it for $183. The SmartWatch is Sony's 2nd-Gen Android accessory - with a 1.3" PMOLED (65K colors) display, an accelerometer and a vibrate option. You can use this device to control your phone, read messages, get weather updates and more.

Here's Sony's official video showing the Smartwatch:

iSupply says that AMOLED display shipments were up 14% in the first quarter of 2012 compared to Q4 2011 - even though this is a traditionally slow season. Shipments are up 80% compared to Q1 2011. iSupply sees AMOLEDs gaining further traction as they are being adopted by tablets.

AMOLED average panel price actually increased 0.9% to $54 - but this is due to the introduction of higher specification displays. AMOLED still carry a price premium of 15 to 25 percent compared to LTPS LCDs. A 4.3" qHD (960x54) Super-AMOLED costs $51. A comparable LCD costs $42.

Toshiba officially launched 3 new tablets today, including the Excite 7.7. This is their 7.7" 1280x800 Super AMOLED Plus tablet that was shown a few times before (it was called the AT270 before). This tablet (which features a strong quad-core Tegra 3 CPU) is very slim (7.6 mm) and light (380 grams).

The Excite 7.7 will launch in June 2012. The 16GB model will cost $500.

Samsung announced that they have shipped over five million Galaxy Note phones. In the beginning of March it was reported that Samsung sold two million units. So either that earlier report wasn't correct, or else the US launch was very successful. Samsung hopes to sell 10 million galaxy notes in 2012, and they also announced today that Japan's NTT DoCoMo will soon offer the LTE version.

Samsung's Galaxy Note is a large Android v2.3 phone (or mini-tablet?) with a 5.3" Super AMOLED display with an HD resolution: 1280x800. Other specs include a dual-core 1.4Ghz processor, 8mp camera, touch display with pen input (it has a stylus). The phone is 9.65mm thick and weights 178 grams.

Taiwan's government is forming an AMOLED alliance - to compete against Korean makers - mostly Samsung. The alliance will include seven partners: two AMOLED produces (AUO and Chimei Innolux) and ITRI, Acer, Asustek, HTC and MediaTek. It is reported that HTC and Asustek will secure all of AUO's upcoming AMOLED capacity.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), who is coordinating the alliance will invest around NT$10 billion (about $333 million US) in AMOLED R&D (mostly though ITRI). CMI will come up with an AMOLED production plan which will get subsidized by the government. Officials from the MOEA say that AMOLED is "rising as a must for next-gen smart phones", and is also likely to enter into the tablet and TV markets.

Carl Zeiss has been showing their Cinemizer OLED head-mounted-display product for quite some time (since 2008 in fact), but it never actually launched. They even announced a 720p version in 2010, but this one didn't ship as well. The company is now showing yet another version, this time with two 870x500 OLED microdisplays and head-tracking.

Samsung says that they have sold over 2 million Galaxy Note phones - 2 months after crossing over the 1 million mark. Just last week the Note started shipping in the US, for AT&T. The Note is selling great - and Samsung actually hopes to sell 10 million such phones in 2012. Samsung invented a new product category - a phone/tablet hybrid (or a phablet).

Samsung's Galaxy Note is a large Android v2.3 phone (or mini-tablet?) with a 5.3" Super AMOLED display with an HD resolution: 1280x800. Other specs include a dual-core 1.4Ghz processor, 8mp camera, touch display with pen input (it has a stylus). The phone is 9.65mm thick and weights 178 grams.

Sony announced that as of February 26 they shipped over 1.2 million PS Vita consoles. The Vita was launched worldwide just a few days ago (up until then it was available in Japan, where sales were a bit disappointing at first). The Vita costs $249 for the Wi-Fi model and $299 for the 3G model.

The Vita features a 5" touch Samsung-Made OLED display (960x544), a quad-core ARM Cortex A9 processor and a quad-core PowerVR (SGX543MP4+) GPU (Sony says that it is as powerful as a PS3), Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and 3G (AT&T, optional). Gaming controls include dual analog sticks, motion controls and a multi-touch pad on the rear side.

Samsung reported today that it has sold over 20 million Galaxy S II phones in 10 months (7 months faster than the Galaxy S model). The accumulated sales of the Galaxy S and SII models now surpasses 40 million (i.e. Samsung sold 20 million of each phone model). Just last month Samsung announced that is sold over 5 million SII phones in South Korea alone - and about 25% of South Koreans own this phone!.

Samsung's Galaxy S2 has a 4.3" WVGA Super AMOLED plus display, 1.2Ghz dual-core processor, NFC, Bluetooth 3 and HSPA+. It's only 8.49mm thick at its thinnest point.