Samsung has introduced a flexible color OLED-display at FPD International 2007 event in Yokohama. It features 4.3” diagonal, 480x272 pixels resolution, 200 cd/m2 frontal luminance, 1000:1 contrast. The manufacturer hasn’t disclosed the mass release date. To add, LG.Philips LCD and Sony introduced similar developments this May at Society for Information Display show (SID) 2007.

Sharp has unveiled an ultra thin LCD panel for portable devices. It measures mere 0.68-mm and has a 2.2” diagonal. Sharp calls the product the “industry’s thinnest” mobile display. It can be applied in mobile phones and digital cameras, which in their turn can get thinner. The company will exhibit its product at FPD International 2007 event in Yokohama. Unfortunately, there is no info on an actual release date.

• Diagonal – 2.2”
• Resolution – QVGA
• Thickness – 0.68 mm
• Contrast – 2000:1
• Viewing angle – 176 degrees
• Response time – 8 ms

Taking into account the plenty of touch-control devices (Apple iPhone, LG Prada, LG Viewty, HTC Touch/Slide, Samsung F700 and so on) Nokia’s idea might come in handy. By the way it might be good with portable players and other touch-sensitive devices. The pictures to the patent show the better way to apply it.

According to the manufacturer, the demand for this solution has become mature and it can become essential, for example, for travelers. The shipments of the Twins are scheduled for November 2007.

HTC has reported it will launch HTC Shift Ultra mobile PC in 4Q 2007 together with the P6500 communicator and S730 smartphone. The device is powered by Windows Vista OS. It comes with a 7” touch-sensitive screen that slides out and tilts to a comfortable angle and a full QWERTY-keyboard. According to the company, HTC Shift has the optimal blend of portability and functionality. The SnapVUE always-on mode provides instant access to important info – e-mail, calendar events, SMS and contacts, even if the device is not switched on. The new product supports GSM/GPRS/EDGE and UMTS/HSDPA networks and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connections. HTC shift will hit European stores in November.

• Direct Push Outlook e-mail
• Incredibly long battery life, up to 2 days in standby mode
• Always-on access to critical information with HTC SnapVUE
• Revolutionary small form factor providing portability without compromising mobility
• Powerful enough device to run Windows Vista

HTC has unveiled HTC S730 smartphone. This is a successor of HTC S710 (Vox): it comes with the number pad on the front and the QWERTY slide-out keyboard. The S730 is powered by Windows Mobile 6 Standard. It will be available in Europe in October.

• Networks - GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800/1900 MHz and WCDMA/HSDPA 2100 MHz
• OS - Windows Mobile 6 Standard
• Chipset - Qualcomm MSM7200, 400 MHz
• Display – 2.4” 240x320 pixels
• 2-megapixel and frontal VGA- cameras
• 256 MB ROM and 64 MB RAM
• microSD-slot
• Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
• Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
• HTC ExtUSB connector
• Li-Pol 1050 mAh battery
• Talk time - 210 minutes (WCDMA), 318 minutes (GSM)
• Standby time - 388 hours (WCDMA), 290 hours (GSM)
• Dimensions – 105.8x51x19.4 mm
• Weight - 150 g

HTC has officially announced HTC Touch Dual slider, an heir of HTC Touch communicator. It’s the second device with TouchFLO screen technology for finger and stylus input. I’d note that its slide-out keyboard contains 12 (traditional numeric) or 20 buttons (two letters for each button) depending on the region and operator’s preferences. The European release of HTC Touch Dual will take place later this month.

• Networks - GSM/EDGE 900/1800/1900 MHz, WCDMA/HSDPA 2100 MHz
• OS - Windows Mobile 6 Professional
• Chipset - Qualcomm MSM7200, 400 MHz
• Display – 2.6” touch sensitive QVGA
• 2-megapixel camera, frontal camera for video calls
• 256 MB ROM, 128 MB RAM
• microSD-slot
• Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
• HTC ExtUSBTM connector
• 1100 mAh battery
• Talk time – up to 240 minutes (WCDMA) and up to 360 minutes (GSM)
• Standby time – up to 150 hours (WCDMA) and up to 250 hours (GSM)
• Dimensions – 107x55x15.8 mm
• Weight - 120 g

Asus has introduced a new ultra mobile PC – the R2E. Unlike it predecessor working on Celeron this UMPC is based on Intel Ultra Mobile Platform 2007 (A110 800 MHz processor and 945GU chipset). The manufacturer says that the shift to the new platform will lower power consumption and increase productivity of the device.

Asus R2E comes with a 7” 800x480 pixels display, 1 GB DDR2, 80 GB HDD, Wi-Fi 802.11g and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR interface. In addition there are HSDPA-adapter, 1.3-megapixel web-camera and built-in GPS (optionally). The sales of Asus R2E will be launched next month at €1119.