June 19 - 4:50pm EDT   Taiwan's AU Optronics showed off an electronic book reader that combines a low-power electronic paper and a touch panel, a first for this type of product at the Display Taiwan 2009 show. The 6-inch prototype houses 800x600 pixels and has a 167dpi pixel density. It is capable of reproducing 16 gray levels, has an 8:1 contrast ratio and a reflectance of 27 percent. The touch functionality allows users to call up new pages without any dedicated buttons. [full story]

October 27 - 11:55am EDT   AU Optronics today revealed a handful of new displays that it hopes will bolster portable devices. Although the company has already developed multi-touch displays, the Taiwan-area firm says it has developed a new 15-inch LCD with the technology built into the cells of the panel itself. The screen uses image sensing to recognize input and so is both responsive to not just fingers but light pens. AUO says this and new 12-inch and 4.3-inch panels with similar features could be used to add multi-touch input to notebooks and larger handhelds. [full story]

August 13 - 10:30am EDT   Alleged display industry insiders today claim Nokia will make a large shift to active matrix OLED (AMOLED) displays in the near future. The cellphone designer is said to be choosing suppliers it knows have plans to create and manufacture the advanced organic screens, which are brighter and more color-rich than LCDs as well as thinner and more power-efficient. [full story]

June 4 - 10:30am EDT   Samsung will be the latest company to start making new, 16:9 aspect ratio LCDs for notebooks, reports from alleged display industry insiders claim. The company has previously kept to producing the 15.4-inch, 16:10 screens found in most notebooks today but is now said to be starting production on wider 15.6-inch screens that are often cited as better for movie viewing and side-by-side documents. Production would reportedly start in November, which would likely push the release of notebooks based on the LCDs to early 2009. [full story]

April 24 - 9:25pm EDT   LG will be rolling out its 8G television line at least half a year ahead of other Taiwanese rivals, including S-LCD, AU Optronics, and Chi Mei Optoelectronics. According to DIGITIMES, the Korean electronics manufacturer already completed its fabrication shells, and has scheduled production to begin by March 2009, and full-scale production of 32 inch OLED TVs to commence in 2011. LG's competitors will start production in late 2008. [full story]

February 29 - 8:25am EST   Taiwan display specialist AU Optronics may have developed an inexpensive touchscreen technology that could drive down the price of the iPhone as well as other smartphones and similar devices, says a claim by the Economic Daily News. The paper points to AUO's partner firm Cando having developed a single-layer, integrated touchscreen display that costs about 40 percent less than what has been seen in the Apple phone. The panel has reportedly drawn interest from several current and prospective smartphone makers, such as HP, Motorola, Nokia, and even Dell. Apple may also look to replace its German-designed touchscreen with the lower-cost design, the report hints. AUO ... [full story]

December 27 - 11:00am EST   Panel designers should have notebook-sized touchscreens that are virtually indistinguishable from their view-only counterparts in the second half of next year, say tips from Taiwan firms. Local business AU Optronics is reportedly developing a 12.1-inch LCD that would use in-cell touch input, escaping the need for a separate layer just to sense contact from the user. The technique allows displays that are as thick as today's LCDs and contrasts sharply with existing tablet PCs, which often gain bulk with the need for a touch-capable display. [full story]