OLEDs are pretty much awesome, but the coolest application, the bendy one, is still tricky, because flexible plastic is more porous than stiff glass, and OLEDs get really upset when they come in contact with oxygen. Apparently, though, Sony and Germany's Max Planck Institute have cooked up a flexible and transparent organic display that will do alright, when it is released in the undisclosed future.

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For those who don't need a whole keyboard full of OLED buttons, Nikkai is showing off standalone units at CEATEC. The buttons are bulkier than anything on an Art Lebedev product, and seem to have three input states: depressed, tilted left and tilted right (or up and down, depending on orientation) which makes makes for what amounts to a highly versatile and communicative switch. A second type of button is a simpler in/out configuration, albeit with a larger screen.

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While OLEDs are still a little too small to be used as full fledged television sets, there's at least one job where the high-resolution, vividly coloured screens function incomparably--as high end digital picture frames! Kodak's new ultra-thin 7.6-inch OLED Wireless panel boasts a 16:9 aspect ratio, 800x480 resolution, and a white to black contrast ratio of 30,000:1.

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Now not only can you get Sony's OLED TV for the bargain bin price of US$1,748, you'll also soon be able to make that 11-inch hunk of visual sexiness completely wireless. Sony recently revealed a completely cordless version of the XEL-1 with an integrated HDTV tuner, a battery, and a wall mount. No specific information about the timing and price of the "I've got no strings" version, but Sony promises it'll be out "soon." [AV Watch via Engadget]

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It was only a matter of time. This image popped up on an Optimus Live Journal group, showing the sad results of a clumsy morning with a steaming mug and a US$1,600 Optimus Maximus keyboard, which is one place we didn't take our review--yet. Not much info on what happened or whether this was a planned test, but the poster says it survived the "first recorded coffee spill thanks to the construction of the upper tray." Phew. [Live Journal]

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Last month the projection was 37 inches. Now a more reputable Japanese paper, Nikkei, is reporting a 40-inch target being mass-produced and ready for retail in the same time frame. As always, Panasonic/Matsushita simply confirms that they're investing heavily into the tech and goes about their business. [AP]

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Optics junkies at the University of Michigan have found a way to greatly boost the efficiency of OLEDs to produce 60% more light from the same amount of power as those previous, cranking out 70 lumens per watt. Their method uses a layer of five-micrometer-wide lenses mounted on top of a reflective grid, which coaxes the light out from the organic substrate and into the world. OLEDs to date have been held back by efficiency problems--they still can't match CFL bulbs' 90 lumens per watt, but they're getting there. This could mean lighting that adds even less power consumption to OLED's many benefits over compact fluorescents (longer life, better light, theoretical 100% efficiency, etc), and more energy-sipping OLED TV panels down the road. [Technology Review via DVICE]

Toshiba and Matsushita's joint display group is about to become the first Japanese firm to jump into the OLED production game, and in a big way--their announced factory will begin producing as many as one million 2.5-inch OLED panels per month when it comes online in the fall of next year. What could they be up to? OLED iPods perhaps?

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Sony is probably OLED's most vocal prophet as the TV of the future. But according to Nikkei, they're hedging their bets and getting more serious with another next-gen display tech: field emission display, which is a lot like a good ol' cathode ray tube, except that it's super thin--it has all the benefits too, like deep blacks and zero motion blur. A "dream panel" says Nikkei. Plus, they're easier to build at large sizes than OLED TVs. Sony just agreed to take over a plant run by Pioneer to begin mass production of FED panels in late 2009 after holding the tech at arm's length for years.

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Adding to the rumours we brought you a few months ago, the Sankei Shimbun daily newspaper is reporting that Panasonic is planning on having 37-inch OLED screens on sale within three years. And there's more: they'll be setting up a production line in the IPS Alpha Technology factory in Chiba Prefecture, intend to overtake their rivals in the next-gen display tech, and will sell the TVs for US$1,390. Though Panasonic apparently denies having such detailed plans, it seems a plausible timescale to me. [OLEDdisplay.net]

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