I almost forgot about this. I had jotted notes pretty much everywhere but forgot to wrap them up in a post. But still, the year is relatively young so I guess I can still make my Predictions for 2006, as the final part of my 2005 in Review Series. Go read it if you haven’t!

• Intel Macs can run Windows soon after their release. This is almost a dream of mine, as I’m pretty used to the Windows environment, but I really like those laptops. One day, I’ll gather enough money to buy one and by then, they will be able to run Windows flawlessly.
• Video podcasting will be hyped but will slow down at the end of the year… mostly because high speed internet connections are not THAT widespread and not THAT fast. However, as many people get more fiber optics all the way to their homes (mostly in Korea and rest of Asia), the demand will pick up in a year or 2. Unless better compression algorithms arise and are adopted, fast.
• Google will suffer its first real drawback: Something at Google will turn bad, pulling stock prices down. I still think that Google will remain the leader on the internet, but its tendency to try to do better than everyone else might hurt them. Something like Google Base or GoogleOS…
• Physicists will get more evidence for the final acceptation of General Relativity… Some experiments are due to end this yearor get their first data analysed (I’m thinking about Gravity Probe B, here). These data will give strong evidence that Einstein was right.

That’s pretty much for the predictions. I think that they are vague enough so that they will get realised in the next year! Time will tell!

January 29th, 2006 | General Science, Technology, Year in Review | No comments

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP in Potsdam have succeeded in constructing transparent OLED displays using light-emitting polymers. Their brightness, operating life time and efficiency are so high that the first commercial applications can be envisaged. “We achieved this result by using a new type of metal electrode to supply the polymer film with electric current,” reports Armin Wedel of the IAP. “The clue of the transparency lies in its physical properties.” Earlier metal oxide coatings were too thick to allow enough light to pass through. But making them thinner reduces their conductivity and hence the luminescence and operating life time of the display.

With the achieved degree of transparency, OLED displays can now be combined with the meanwhile mature technology of TFT liquid crystal displays which are commonly found in a wide variety of products. Thus, the researchers are considering to integrate additional functions directly in displays, such as highlighted areas or flashing warning symbols. By combining the two types, it becomes possible to concentrate a higher density of information content within the same surface area. Project partner Optrex Europe GmbH located near Frankfurt has already produced demonstration models of the hybrid display.

Some new ideas are being investigated in collaboration with the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam and the University of the Arts in Bremen. Transparent OLEDs allow conventional displays to be illuminated from the back or front. Once the manufacturing process even for larger surface areas has been mastered, it will be possible to incorporate the light-emitting polymers in laminated glass. The result would be, for instance, to transform car windshields or glazing elements in buildings into display panels that hardly interfere at all with their main function of letting in daylight or allowing a clear view out. Another novel idea are two-color transparent displays: The ability to mix colors permits the creation of entirely new effects and applications.

Photo taken on okulla.de and found via Google Image. If there are copyrights issues, please tell me.

January 27th, 2006 | General Science | No comments