We know that Apple has been investigating various methods
of incorporating flexible displays in its mobile devices thanks to a handful of
patents and patent application’s published last year. Flexible display rumors
have picked up steam even more since rumors of an iWatch from Apple, and just
today we came across two new Apple patent applications detailing flexible
devices that could change states as a user bends or twists the device. We all know
Apple patent applications have never been a good indication of future product
releases, but now Apple has come right out and stated in a job listing that it
is indeed considering flexible displays.
The job listing seeking a Sr. Optical Engineer was
posted earlier this month and looks for a display expert to investigate “high
optical efficiency LCD, AMOLED and flexible display.” Specifically, Apple is
requesting someone to “Analyze the trade-offs between design, process, optical
performance, and implementation feasibility,” hinting that the company is
considering introducing new, advanced display technology in the future:
-Hands-on experience and proven track of record in
design, development and technical investigation of display technologies.
-In-depth understanding of display technology,
particularly LCD & OLED design & optical performance trade-offs,
including optical design, viewing angle, color and white point management,
gamma and dimming control, visual performance and artifacts; and
characterization metrics.
Samsung has been showing off its flexible display tech
for a number of years but the technology has yet to hit a mainstream consumer
product. Others, such as Sharp and LG are also prototyping flexible displays,
and just last January at CES we got a look at 3.4″ flexible OLED from Sharp
that shows the technology is getting real close. However, recent reports from
this month said LG is aiming to ship the first flexible displays later this year
ahead of Samsung. Corning, the company that currently supplies the glass for
Apple’s iOS devices, last year announced its ultra-slim, flexible glass called
Willow Glass would be going into production soon, but later reports indicated
it could be three years before it’s ready for companies start using Willow for
flexible displays. Today’s job listing is definitely the first bit of solid
proof directly from Apple that it is looking into developing devices with
flexible displays.
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