Philips Creates Foldable Screens
The small screen of handheld devices is a major impediment to the adoption of phones and PDAs as Internet/web devices. Many people, especially those without great eyesight, feel the phone screen cannot visibly display enough information to make it worth using. In a development that could ease this limitation, Philips has announced that they are ready to move their foldable screen technology out of the lab and into products as early as 2005. The foldable screen is a thin film display that can be rolled up like a scroll. When installed in a mobile device like a phone or PDA, the larger screen could be stowed along a side of the device, which could be rolled out when the user wanted a bigger view. Combined with laser-projected keyboards, many of the UI limitations of small devices could be breached. (image of Philips screen)
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