HP Making Wrist Computer with Flexible Display
A watch to make Dick Tracy blush.
Both LG and Samsung have launched Dick Tracy-esque wristwatch cell phones. Now HP is fighting them for the title of most bad-ass watch ever with a new piece designed for the military. Unlike LG and Samsung, HP is actually referring to this thing as the Dick Tracy watch.
The watch will use HP's flexible display that has been talked about in recent months. Carl Taussig, director of information surfaces at HP Labs in Palo Alto, California, claims the thin plastic won't break and says it only has "the potential" to be flexible. A March demonstration of HP's flexible display shows HP's CTO rolling up the display and stuffing it in a poster tube, which would certainly suggest it has more than the potential to be flexible. However, Taussig's remarks could have something to do with the fact that CTO Phil McKinney said during the demonstration that rolling up the displays is not something you'll be able to do time and time again without damaging the material. McKinney said the display would eventually fail if rolled more than a few times, citing six as the maximum number of times you could bend the display.
CNN reports that HP's watch will show maps and other strategic information to soldiers in remote combat fields. The display will run on solar energy using panels printed onto the watches using a technology developed by PowerFilm.
HP hopes to have a prototype ready in about a year.
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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joytech22 The limits on how many times it can be bent really impact on it's potential, or they could be used as double sided animated flags or something i think..Reply -
chickenhoagie let us see if we can once again defy science fiction, and turn it into a real toy. i'm eager to see the turn-out!Reply -
Marco925 LmeowDoes it have a purple webcam though?naww this TURNS purple in incandescent lighting.Reply -
shiftstealth Do they mean bend like roll like a map or Folds? If it folded 6 times that would be ok i guess.Reply
6 Bends would put it on par with the computer paper from Caprica. -
vartok anthropophaginianExcellent! I can get myself a pip-boy (from Fallout).Reply
LOL, thats what i was thinking... bring on the armband PCs -
Warsaw Ahh, correct me if I'm wrong. But, haven't they had an article previously that had this very same technology? (Not positive if it was from HP or another company)Reply -
rbarone69 It was probably from Universal Display, they had a prototype for the military. It showed off the flexible OLED tech they were prototyping.Reply