SmartKem Moving to Market Following €3 million Financing Round

UK start-up SmartKem is planning to take its organic thin-film transistor (TFT) technology to product prototype stage following the completion of a Series A financing round raising €3 million.

The funding was secured from BASF Venture Capital, Octopus Investments and the Entrepreneurs Fund. Finance Wales, the company's principal shareholder, supplied additional funding. Finance Wales has invested £3 million (€3.8 million) to date in the St Asaph-headquartered firm.

SmartKem, a materials supplier for organic semiconductors and TFTs, has already announced a number of joint development agreements with Asian display makers. The latest funds will be invested in the company's in-house capability and expansion of its TFT development team, to take its technology to prototype stage with its partners.

Investment
In an exclusive interview with +Plastic Electronics, Mike Cowin, head of product development and marketing at SmartKem, comments: 'We are making SmartKem more responsive to customer needs - we're talking about responding in a matter of weeks.'

SmartKem's tru-Flex semiconductor technology, has been developed to offer industry-grade TFT performance in a flexible form factor, the company claims. The target is to enable applications for bendable and foldable mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, as well as conformable wearable products.

Merck Gives Update on AZ Electronic Materials Acquisition

Speciality chemicals firm Merck is on track with its integration of AZ Electronic Materials, a chemicals supplier for the flat-panel display industry and silicon technologies. The company announced the $2.6 billion (€2 billion) purchase in May 2014.

Since then, the company has announced in late June the transition of all remaining AZ shares to Merck, exercising its compulsory acquisition right.

Merck discussed the purchase during a presentation at LOPEC 2014 on 28 May. Bjorn Hofman, senior vice president for performance materials - advanced technologies at Merck, spoke about the strategic fit of AZ's technologies while presenting on 'Partnering - the key enabler to develop the printed electronics industry.'

In an exclusive interview with +Plastic Electronics, Markus Kaiser, business partner for group communications in Merck's performance materials business, provides an update on the integration process and outlines the rationale for the acquisition.

LG releases 77-inch and 66-inch 4K OLED TVs

LG Electronics has unveiled its first 4K OLED televisions at a launch event in Seoul on 26 August. These boast a 3840 x 2160-pixel resolution.

Game changer
Two models were shown, the 77-inch 77EG9700, and the 66-inch 66EG9700. Both incorporate an advanced curved panel mounting LG's four-pixel WRGB technology. This gives infinite contrast, a more natural picture and a response rate that is faster than competing technologies according to the manufacturer.

Hyun-hwoi Ha, president and CEO of LG's Home Entertainment says: 'As the next evolutionary step in display technology, OLED will play a major role in reshaping our industry.

'LG's 4K OLED TV is the pinnacle of technological achievement and a new paradigm that will change the dynamics of the next generation TV market. I feel confident when I say that 4K OLED is a bona fide game changer.'

Premium price
LG is now taking orders for the 4K OLED screens from consumers in Korea. It plans to make them available to the US and European markets later in 2014. Display models will be shown at the IFA 2014 consumer electronics show in Berlin on 5-10 September.

It is reported that the 4K screens will command a premium price [http://news.yahoo.com/lg-bets-pricey-oled-technology-060536835.html] - with the 66EG9700 costing 12 million won (€9,020). This is likely to confine it to high-end home cinema market and limit the technology's penetration to the wider consumer market.

$3500 models
LG has moved to make non-4K OLED technology more affordable too, cutting the price of 55-inch models. These cost over €11,000 when they were first offered for sale in July 2013. In August 2014, it started selling its 55-inch 55EC9300 model televisions for $3,500 (€2,615) on the US market for the first time. This low price is encouraging general electronics stores, like Best Buy to stock the screens.

The price drop has been enabled by improving yields from LG's OLED manufacturing lines. It is potentially a more important development from a business point of view. As tapping the mainstream market will be the key goal for LG to realise returns from its undoubted lead in OLED screen technology.

Sweat-powered battery demonstrated

US academics have developed a skin-mounted battery which generates power for a chemical released in human sweat during exercise. If the technology could be improved, it could provide discrete power for disposable biosensors and other wearable devices.

Biosensor
The battery project began with the team from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) producing a biosensor to monitor lactate mounted on temporary tattoo paper. Lactate is released during exercise as a by-product of the breaking down of glucose in cells to produce energy. Its presence in blood has long been used to gauge how strenuous the exercise an athlete is.

Keen to eliminate the need to invasively take blood samples to measure lactate concentrations, the UCSD researchers printed a biosensor sensitive to the chemical on to the tattoo paper.

The sensor was impregnated with an enzyme which strips electrons from lactate excreted through sweat. As these electrons flow it is possible to equate the size of the current to the level of lactate present.

Sweat power
The next step was to redesign the sensor as a battery by creating a printed power cell with the electron harvesting enzyme on the cathode. As a result of harvesting the current, the sensor became self-sustaining.

Project leader, Wenzhao Jia explains: 'The current produced is not that high, but we are working on enhancing it so that eventually we could power some small electronic devices. Right now, we can get a maximum of 70 µW per cm², but our electrodes are only 2mm by 3mm in size and generate about 4 µW -- a bit small to generate enough power to run a watch, for example, which requires at least 10 µW. So besides working to get higher power, we also need to leverage electronics to store the generated current and make it sufficient for these requirements.'

Unhealthy power
During research on the prototype battery it was discovered that test subjects who exercised less regularly generated the most power with the enzyme battery. This is thought to be because less fit people move more quickly into a physiological process called glycolysis which produces more lactate.

The printed lactate sensor will be beneficial to athletes interested in their performance and medical patients with conditions like heart or lung disease which increase lactate production. Taking a wider perspective, the enzyme batteries could provide power to a range of other epidermal printed electronic sensors.

The research was presented on 13 August to the American Chemical Society's 248th National Meeting and Exposition in San Francisco.

Haydale signs major functionalised graphene distribution deal for Asia

UK company Haydale has announced a deal with Korean firm PlanarTech, to distribute its range of, functionalised graphene materials to developers in Asia.

PlanarTech
Under the agreement announced on 4 August, Haydale will be able to sell its range of functionalised graphene nanoplatelets, conductive inks, sheets and carbon nanotubes through PlanarTech's existing network in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) zone.

Haydale hopes to prioritise sales and the development of strategic partnerships with electronics companies in South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan.

Haydale CEO, Ray Gibbs says: 'The ability to fully commercialise graphenes has been a stumbling block for industry in recent times, particularly in the APAC region where the majority of patents for graphene-based applications originate.'

Functionalised graphene
A key step in harnessing graphene's material and electrical properties is to enable it to chemically bond to a range of other materials.

Haydale believes its patented plasma process for functionalising raw graphene gives greater options, is more cost-effective, and less damaging to the graphene than competing wet chemistry processes.

To support its policy of forging partnerships Haydale uses its process to produce samples with three different levels of functionalisation for each customer. This allows the end user to identify the appropriate level of functionalization for his or her specific application so as an optimised supply can then be produced in Haydale's reactors if commercialisation takes off.

Turning market
The accord with PlanarTech is the latest of a series of distribution agreements that Ammanford-based Haydale has signed in 2014. Deals with InVentures and Goodfellow have already increased its presence in the US.

Speaking to +Plastic Electronics Gibbs reveals that his company is already seeing demand for these materials building. The functionalisation offered by Haydale and its scale up potential will thus help move graphene out of university research labs and into more and more commercial electronic applications like biosensors, flexible displays and batteries.

Stained glass hydrangea dye solar cell made in Tokyo

A new dye solar cell made at the University of Tokyo combines energy generation in a decorative floral pattern. The colour of the flower's petals even change colour as it charges and discharges.

Hydrangea
The multi-coloured cell is based on an image of a Hydrangea plant. As in a real flower the leaves of the design generate the power, this is then stored in the area of the cell which represent the flower.

As it gains charge the flower's petal turn from white to blue, as it discharges these turn back to white.

The design has been named Annabelle after a species of hydrangea.

Home use
The Annabelle, design draws on the traditions of Japanese painting. It is supplied as one 200mm side of a square wooden box. The aesthetically pleasing design is intended to allow it to be used at home, in a conservatory of similar room.

The Annabelle cell can hold enough power to recharge two modern mobile phones and the dye solar technology means it can be charged by the low light levels encountered indoors.

Hollande and more
The team led by University of Tokyo professor Hiroshi Segawa emphasises that a myriad of decorative designs will be possible using the dye solar technology.

Segawa has already produced versions of the Annabelle cell with images of French president Francois Hollande and the Japanese computer-generated pop singer Hatsune Miku.

Dyesol signs developer distribution agreement with Sigma-Aldrich

All dye solar materials made by Australian company Dyesol are being made available via a global distribution agreement with Sigma-Aldrich.

The accord was announced on 14 August. It will focus on selling dye solar cell (DSC) and solid-state dye solar cell (ssDSC) materials to other developers across the world. Under an existing agreement Sigma-Aldrich already sells the Canberra-based firm's range of organo-metal dyes. This will now be extended to Dyesol's full product range, which includes other dyes, titanium pastes electrolytes, materials and Dyesol's range of silver inks - which can be also be used to print electronic components.

Luca Sorbello, Dyesol's sales and marketing manager, says: 'Our alliance provides scientists around the world with easy and dependable access to Dyesol's extensive line of dye solar cell materials.

'This agreement opens market opportunities for high performance Dyesol products and provides Dyesol greater exposure to an established user community that has experienced the benefits of the quality provided by Sigma-Aldrich. In addition, Sigma-Aldrich will expand its product selection aimed at the rapidly growing DSC and ssDSC materials market. It is my belief that this agreement will ultimately benefit the scientific community.'

In May 2014, Dyesol demonstrated the potential of dye sol photovoltaics when they produced a cell with a then record efficiency of 9%.

Access to Sigma-Aldrich's worldwide distribution network will give higher exposure to materials in Dye Sol 3rd generation photovoltaics portfolio - Source: Dyesol

Quantum Materials Acquires Quantum Dot Patent Portfolio from Bayer

US quantum dots (QD) supplier Quantum Materials has boosted its technology portfolio with the purchase of a set of patent families from Bayer Technology Services. The patents cover volume production technology for heavy metal-free (HMF) QD and nanoparticles; increasing quantum yields for HMF QD; and hybrid organic QD solar cell production, among other capabilities.

Stephen Squires, Quantum Materials CEO and president, says of the purchase: 'We acquired these patents to not only expand our technology portfolio in HMF and QD solar cell production, but also to protect the advances we have made to date in the volume manufacturing of nanoparticles, including QD.

'Bayer is a research pioneer in the nanotech and QD fields, and these early filings were awarded with broad claims. It will be very difficult for competitors to produce materials in volume similar to ours without breaching our patents.'

Heavy metal-free
The capabilities in volume production of HMF QD and yields (in terms of brightness) for HMF QD will help Quantum Materials deliver commercially viable quantities of this product category. Consumer electronics firms looking to move to QD-based displays, but conscious of the effects of toxic heavy metals such as cadmium (restricted by RoHS legislation, which limits their use), for instance, may specify the use of HMF QD.

David Doderer, Quantum Materials vice president of R&D, states: 'The HMF organic nanomaterials expand our high-performance product offerings, and the automated processes will bring down their cost, so manufacturers can begin planning adoption into real products at price points that expand market penetration of QD technologies significantly.'

The solar-related patents describe the fundamental design of QD solar cells, and processes for optimising QD for solar and other printed electronics applications. The solar patents enhance Quantum Material's licensed patent on printing OLED and QD solar cells, and other printed electronic devices, by gravure or high-speed roll-to-roll.

Doderer adds: 'Combining the solar patents with our automated volume QD production process opens the door for us to establish joint ventures for QD solar cell pilot plants worldwide.'

Efficiency
Bayer Technology Services is a subsidiary of Germany-headquartered enterprise Bayer. Via its Bayer Material Science business, the company has explored a number of nanotechnologies. In March 2013 the company announced the divestment of its carbon nanotubes developments to German firm FutureCarbon.

Earlier in August, Quantum Materials announced that it had achieved a calculated 95% quantum yield for Green Tetrapod QD, manufactured using the company's proprietary automated mass-production system.

Atomwear Wearable Technology Development Kit Launched

An open source development kit for wrist-mounted devices has been launched on the crowd-sourcing website kickstarter.com.

The Atomwear platform has so far raised 48% of the $12,000 its Canadian designer Shuwen Lui needs to bring it to fruition.

Atomwear is based around a wristband with six sockets for 24 pin connections. These accept a series of standardised modules supplied with the kit. Two of these will be filled by a Bluetooth low energy chip made by Nordic Semiconductors, to connect to other devices, and a USB charger for the band's 40mA battery.

Other modules include an accelerometer, temperature sensor, gryroscope and blood pressure monitor. A visual output can be given on an OLED display module.

The first orders are scheduled to be shipped in November 2014. When this happens, members of the Atomwear design community will be given access to a demonstration Android app and application program interface (API) for the kit's software.

Sabic and Cima NanoTech announce polycarbonate touchscreen breakthrough

Saudi Arabia-headquartered chemicals firm Sabic has announced a breakthrough in the creation of polycarbonate conductive films, in its partnership with Cima NanoTech.

The polycarbonate film will be available for customer trials later this year.

Functionalised films

The breakthrough involves functionalising the polycarbonate without adding filler to the film itself, which can affect its mechanical properties. Cima NanoTech's nanoparticle solution, called Sante, is instead wet coated or transferred to Sabic's Lexan film.

The announcement is significant not only for the potential to enable applications of polycarbonate film, but also the role Sabic can play in bringing the transparent conductor to market, based on its global distribution channels and existing partnerships with various consumer electronics manufacturers.

ITO replacement

The announcement is also the latest in a series of progressive steps for developers of transparent conductors, looking to take market share from indium tin oxide (ITO) based on cost, flexibility and performance.

Philips to use UDC PHOLEDs in commercial lights

Universal Display (UDC) has announced that Philips will start using its phosphorescent OLED (PHOLED) technology in commercial lighting products.

Successful evaluation
This step is a confirmation of the efficacy of the PHOLED technology and materials developed by the New Jersey-based company. It started supplying these to Philips Lighting's R&D division in November 2013 as part of an evaluation programme.

UDC CEO, Steven Abramson says: 'We are excited to extend our working relationship with Philips, the global leader in lighting. This is an important next step for UDC. It demonstrates the continued acceptance of UDC's phosphorescent OLED technology and materials by the emerging OLED lighting industry for high performance, energy-efficient solid-state lighting.'

Philips has invested heavily $57 million in developing OLED lights under the brand Lumiblade.

Energy efficient
UDC reports its PHOLEDs are up to four times as efficient as competing OLED lighting technologies. They also give excellent colour quality, which is a key factor in domestic lighting.

By 2019 it is estimated that the world production for OLEDs will be 40 million panels.According to Nanomarkets, this market will equate to a $1.4 billion (€1.05 billion) - with domestic lighting applications will being worth $400 million and office lights $380 million.

Material demand
On 7 August, UDC published its results for Q2 of 2014. These reported revenues of $64.1 million - a 30% increase on the same period in 2013, with much of the increase being attributed to a 32% rise in income from material sales,

PPG Industries is one industry that produces UDC's PHOLEDs. It anticipating a rise in the market when it invested over $9 million (€6.6 million) to scale up the output of its PHOLED production facility in Barbeton, Ohio in November 2013.

Beyond lighting
Diversification through the deal with Philips is significant as the majority of UDC's revenue -estimated at 85% - now comes via a licencing agreement with Samsung Display. Samsung use these to make screens for smartphones, tablets and wearable devices like smartwatches.

UDC is engaging with other partners looking to establish themselves in the consumer AMOLED screen market. In July 2014, UDC announced it was starting to send PHOLED materials to China's BOE Technologies as part of another evaluation agreement.

The Beijing-based company is trialling the materials for use in consumer displays - initially intended for the local smartphones - at its fabrication site in Hefei. It is pushing to be one of the first Chinese companies to have a commercial OLED production line. 

New Japanese OLED development company formed by Sony, Panasonic and Japan Display

Three of the biggest names in Japanese electronics have announced they will cooperate to reinvigorate research into OLED screen production in the country.

JOLED

The new initiative is being coordinated by the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) - a public-private investment fund.

Cooperation will be through a new company JOLED which will be launched officially on 1 January 2015. It will pool the previous R&D experience of Sony, Panasonic and Japan Display in designing and cost-effectively manufacturing OLED screens for consumer devices.

INCJ will control 75% of voting rights in JOLED, with Japan Display holding 15%, and the other two partners 5% each.

Once development work on production technologies has reached a suitable level, Japan Display and INCJ will provide a fresh influx of funding to pay for a pilot manufacturing plant.

Consumer focus
JOLED will have a particular focus on making medium-size displays which can be fitted to tablets, lap-top computers and wearable electronic devices.

This move represents a resurrection of interest in OLED development in Japan. Sony and Panasonic had previously collaborated on producing large OLED panels for television screens, but dissolved the accord in early in 2014 when they realised they could not compete with improving production techniques being developed in Korea by Samsung and particularly LG.

In the interim, Sony has maintained an interest in OLEDs, but for professional broadcasting and medical equipment, rather than consumer devices. 

Miranda Lambert Brings Novalia Conductive Ink Posters to US for First Time

Interactive posters which use graphene ink to play music are being used in the US for the first time to support a tour by country singer Miranda Lambert.

Novalia
The conductive ink posters employ software and printed graphene ink circuitry developed by a UK firm, Novalia. The circuits are laid down with screen or offset or flexo lithography on the reverse side of the poster, which remains fully flexible.

Fans visiting one of the venues for Lambert's 30 city North American Platinum tour will have the chance to interact with the posters. By touching a 'platinum' disc on the poster they can select and hear music from the Texan singer's latest album - also named Platinum.

Evolving market
Posters and other media with a sonic output are an exciting new medium for advertisers and marketing professionals - and its potential for promoting music events is not being ignored. A similar poster was used by Beck's during its sponsorship of New Zealand Music Month in May 2014.

Despite having found a good match with the music industry, a number of challenges remain before Novalia's technology reaches more mainstream applications like packaging or in-store promotion.

First glimpse of Apple iTime smartwatch platform given by patent

A tantalising glance of Apple's first model of smartwatch has been given through the publication of a patent granted to the company.

Patent number 8,787,006 was issued on 22 July 2014 and describes the platform, components and points towards some of its technical functions. The smartwatch is due to be launched commercially later in 2014.

Technical specifications
The capacities for a smartphone-tethered wristband laid out in the patent will be familiar to existing smartwatch or fitness band users. These include sensors for movement and other biological functions, haptic feedback and a screen.

Connection to an Apple iOS operating system smartphone or tablet will be via Bluetooth, NFC or Wi-Fi modules.

iTime
One interesting revelation has been the name of the smartwatch, long dubbed the 'iWatch' in the technology press. One of the graphics accompanying the patent has an alternative name 'iTime' written on the centre of the wristband's screen.

Standout functions
Whatever the name, Apple is likely to follow its existing strategy and price the iTime towards the premium end of the market around $300-$350 (€224-€260),

To justify this and achieve the prestigious sales some pundits are predicting it will have to offer some unique standout features above those of a standard smartwatch.

Given its design pedigree the iTime is likely to constitute a step up in the smartwatch market. Though whether its extra features will be enough to convert large numbers of loyal iPhone owners into users of wearables and prove truly disruptive remains to be seen.

UCLA makes 11.5 percent efficient triple-junction organic PV cell

Materials scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have produced a demonstrator of an organic solar cell that converts 11.5% of light into electricity.

Triple tandem
The new photovoltaic unit has a triple-junction tandem design. This was inspired by the multi-junction solar cells based on III-V semiconductors used to power satellites. Details of the new device, which currently measures only 1cm2, were given in a paper published in the journal Advanced Materials on 14 July.

The cell is made of three separate optimised polymer bandgaps sandwiched between layers of zinc oxide, Pedot:PSS, and tungsten oxide.

Once the triple-junction cell can be scaled up, the developers believe it will be able to compete with existing inorganic photovoltaics in high performance applications. Major challenges to doing this involve improving processing compatibility, allowing each layer to be constructed using solution processing, and the design of the interfacial layer.

Scale-up savings
UCLA Researcher Johnny Chen notes that the project benefited from encapsulation technology originally developed for OLED consumer devices by Sumitomo Chemical.

The potential for printing tandem organic solar cells at low-cost has already been demonstrated this year. In June, a team from the Technical University of Denmark produced a double-layer tandem cell in a roll to roll process - though it had a much lower energy conversion rate.

Xiaomi releases €9.50 fitness security band

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has released its first wearable device the Mi Band. The device which includes fitness monitoring functions is being offered for sale in China for just 79RMB (€9.50).

Low cost
The pricing of the plastic fitness band makes it up to 10 times cheaper than some competitors on the Chinese market, like the Fitbit Flex. Profit margins are likely to be tight, but by offering it at such a low price Xiaomi is positioning for truly high volume consumer sales. Putting it easily within the reach of the normal Chinese worker who has an average monthly wage of 2,400 RMB.

Mi Band was launched on 22 July at the National Convention Centre in Beijing, alongside the latest Xiaomi smartphone, the Mi 4. The new 1999RMB (€240) handset's design has been heavily influenced by Apple's iPhone and the joint launch is indicative of one of the reasons the Mi Band is being sold so cheaply.

Xaiomi's ecosystem
The Chinese producer now has a suite of devices - WiFi dongles, set-top television boxes, handsets and tables - which work on its software. The Mi Band is being deployed not just to keep customers who want wearables within the Xiaomi fold, but also to enhance other devices.

The Mi Band has been configured to operate as a security device to unlock an owner's Xiaomi smartphone. Besides this and its very low price its sensors, pedometer, sleep monitor and alarm, do not make it stand out from the crowd of other fitness bands.

Moment of truth
In western markets, fitness bands have principally been bought by fitness enthusiasts. By making a wearable which costs only slightly more than a cinema ticketXiaomi is offering it as product for everyone.

Hence data on the Mi Band's use may answer a key question about wearable technology - whether the functionality it offers is appealing enough to the everyday consumers to make them part of their lives?

Phones for export
Xiaomi is attempting to secure market presence for its products in a number of key growth countries later this year. These include the states of south east Asia - like Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia - as well as in developing consumer markets further afield like Brazil, Mexico, Russia and Turkey.

It remains to be seen whether the Mi Band is given much of a profile in this initiative, behind the Mi handsets, as the Beijing-based firm pushes to become a truly global brand.

Linkitz wearable toy to teach programming, says developer

A Canadian start-up has secured $100,000 (Canadian) (€69,000) to design an educational fashion toy utilising wearable technology.

The company, Linkitz is now working to develop a prototype of the system, which will share the same name.

The toy will be based around a number of small modules which fit together via TSR plugs and jacks. The order in which they are connected will cause the Linkitz toys to light up, flash and change colour in different sequences.

The linked units can then be made into wearable items like necklaces and bracklets. The idea is that the toy will provide a fun way to introduce younger children - and especially girls - to programing.

Linkitz CEO Lyssa Neel, says: 'Girls are big on accessories and Linkitz will give them a chance to get programming chops as they make toys their own. A social toy and fashion item can motivate kids to learn more about technology.

'Building this type of confidence can help kids get comfortable with technology and grow from mere consumers to active creators - making technology playful at an early age can go a long way.'

The new funding has come from a local non-profit organisation the Northumberland Communities Futures Development Corporation via its annual N100 round of seed funding directed at innovative companies in Ontario.

Linkitz wearable toy to teach programming, says developer

A Canadian start-up has secured $100,000 (Canadian) (€69,000) to design an educational fashion toy utilising wearable technology.

The company, Linkitz is now working to develop a prototype of the system, which will share the same name.

The toy will be based around a number of small modules which fit together via TSR plugs and jacks. The order in which they are connected will cause the Linkitz toys to light up, flash and change colour in different sequences.

The linked units can then be made into wearable items like necklaces and bracklets. The idea is that the toy will provide a fun way to introduce younger children - and especially girls - to programing.

Linkitz CEO Lyssa Neel, says: 'Girls are big on accessories and Linkitz will give them a chance to get programming chops as they make toys their own. A social toy and fashion item can motivate kids to learn more about technology.

'Building this type of confidence can help kids get comfortable with technology and grow from mere consumers to active creators - making technology playful at an early age can go a long way.'

The new funding has come from a local non-profit organisation the Northumberland Communities Futures Development Corporation via its annual N100 round of seed funding directed at innovative companies in Ontario.

Taiwan establishes OLCA forum to target 5.6 billion dollar OLED lighting market

A collation of companies has been formed in Taiwan to ensure the country is positioned to take advantage of a booming demand for OLED lighting.

The Organic Light-emitting Diode Lighting Commercialization Alliance (OLCA) will aim to connect companies across the development chain and cement Taiwan's existing expertise in OLED production.

The OLCA been established under the leadership of Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). A number of high-profile companies including Merck, RiTDisplay, Tongtai, Corning and WiseChip have already joined the fledgling organisation.

The OLCA will have five committees covering different technical aspects necessary to make OLED lighting directly competitive with standard LED and fluorescent lamp lighting. The committees will cover lamps, materials, lighting design, fixtures and optical engines.

ITRI estimates that OLEDs will account for 23.4% of global demand for solid-state lighting by 2020. This will be worth a projected $5.6 billion (€4.1 billion) out a total $23.9 billion market.

The chairman of the OLCA will be CT Liu, who is vice president and general director of ITRI's electronics and optoelectronics research laboratories.

Smartphone AMOLEDs to be Cheaper than LCDs in 2 years

In two years, 5-inch AMOLED screen panels will be cheaper than their LCD equivalents according to market researchers at NPD DisplaySearch.

The drop in price will be realised as the yield from AMOLED production lines increases and finally reaches 90%. Currently an AMOLED smartphone display is 10-20% more expensive than an LCD screen.

This difference will disappear over the next two years, as advances in production technique increase yields of small screen fabrication. A benefit will also be felt if the price of AMOLED materials can be brought down.

Jimmy Kim, a senior analyst at NPD DisplaySearch, says: 'If AMOLED costs fall below LCDs, as expected, it would lead to more opportunities for the OLED display industry, greater competition with LCD, and more choices for consumers.'

Wearable technology rolled out for card-less payment at US music festival

The organiser of Lollapalooza 2014 has announced that it will be issuing wearable technology wristbands to music fans at this year's event on 1-3 August.

The plastic wristbands will each contain a unique RFID chip. Once inside the popular music festival, visitors will use the wristband to make payments at stalls and bars by touching a terminal and entering a pin, rather than handing over money or credit cards.

Prior to entering the Lollapalooza site in Chicago, festival-goers will have to upload their credit card details on the festival's website. The wristbands will be sent out ahead of the festival and will also be used for monitoring entry to the event.

C3, which organises Lollapalooza and other concerts, believes that this solution will soonbecome the norm at other festivals too. 

Fraunhofer plastic electronics and electron beam divisions merge

German applied research organisation Fraunhofer is merging its Centre for Organic Materials and Electronic Devices (COMEDD) with its Institute for Electron Beam and Plasma Technology (FEP).

Uwe Vogel, deputy director of the Dresden-based COMEDD, says: 'The merger of COMEDD and FEP is a ground-breaking step for future developments. Through this merger, new approaches and research focuses - for example in flexible electronics can be handled more efficiently.'

The move was completed on 1 July 2014. The step has been taken to allow the COMEDD and FEP to cooperate more closely in technical areas where there is increasing scope for crossover. For example FEP electron beam sterilisation technology will be deployed to enhance the production of OLED-on-silicon biosensors made by COMEDD.

FEP director Volker Kirchhoff says: 'Compared to FEP's current focus on technologies and processes, COMEDD is concentrating on components and applications. I am looking forward for significant advances, especially in the area of barrier films for flexible organic components with COMEDD's know-how. Also, OLED-based microdisplays will take advantage of many years of work in the process technology and market relations at Fraunhofer FEP.'

Evrythng deal to push Thinfilm’s NFC labels as key IoT component

Thinfilm has signed a collaboration deal with Evrythng, to gain access to the company's Internet of Things (IoT) software system.

Under the agreement Thinfilm will work to develop its products - including the world's first Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled smart label - to endeavour to make them one of the fundamental building blocks of the IoT.

Evrythng
Evrythng is a high-profile UK-based software development company. Its business model is built on a software-as-service model, for a program package that can give and manage individual active digital identities for real world objects. The software engine is cloud-based and scalable. It includes application programming interfaces (APIs), semantics, temporal data storage, active computational capabilities and access control.

Giving a unique digital identity means any physical item with an electronic tag or QR code can be identified, tracked and managed on smartphones, computer and other connected devices.

Thinfilm
With NFC, Thinfilm is fast developing the capacity to print labels with electronics that can hold and wirelessly communicate these identities at an economic cost. In January 2014, it acquired a series of patents for using NFC on printed electronics when it bought US developer Kovio. In late May, this was combined with the company's existing expertise in printed memory to produce its - and the world's - first demonstration NFC-enabled smart labels.

The initial commercial NFC-labels systems are due for release in 2015.

Thinfilm has already enjoyed penetration with its labels carrying printed electronics sensors in some niche markets, like monitoring the temperature exposure of drugs. However to display the output from the sensors' it has been necessary to integrate a screen, which is costly and increases the size of the label.

NFC
The NFC protocol offers a wireless medium for communication, and printing electronics is a mechanism to produce these tagging circuits, at a cost low enough to make them economically feasible.

Evrythng CEO, Niall Murphy, says: 'Thinfilm is leading a paradigm shift in the way digital interactivity is delivered to the market - even at the level of disposable items. The use of printed electronics specifically addresses the traditional cost and scalability barriers, while NFC connectivity significantly improves the ease of initiating interaction with a connected product.

'Our partnership with Thinfilm extends Evrythng 's ability to make physical products smart, interactive, and trackable by connecting them to the web.'

IoT
A forecast published by International Data Corporation on 3 June 2014, estimates that the number of internet-connect items will rise at an annual rate of 17.5% from 9.1 billion in 2013 to 28.1 billion in 2020. There will be a corresponding expansion in the market, from a global value of $1.9 trillion (€1.3 trillion) in 2013 to a predicted $7.1 trillion (€5.3 trillion) in 2020.

Thinfilm and Evrythng are each developing a separate key element for enabling this massive expansion of the IoT. If successful this will move the IoT away from its current limitation to high-value industrial and consumer equipment to include even mundane or disposal items like food packages - transforming it into an Internet of Everything. Though this will only be possible if digital identifies can be assigned and managed cost-effectively.

Davor Sutija, CEO of Norway-based Thinfilm says: 'Evrythng has built a powerful software engine and intuitive interface to help companies create and manage engaging digital extensions of physical products.

'Combined with Thinfilm's printed memory, sensor-equipped Smart Labels and NFC Barcode technology, [it] will enable digital and mobile interactivity in applications where connectivity was previously neither economical nor practical. Our shared vision in bringing intelligence and digital interactivity to the billions of physical objects in the world makes Evrythng an ideal partner for us.'

nTact offers economical slot die coating as organic electronics moves to pilot production

US equipment manufacturer nTact is reporting an increase in interest in its line of slot die coating machinery.

As a number of nTact's customers are looking to take plastic electronics production from the R&D to pilot line production, the economic case for slot die coaters is becoming more evident.

Slot die advantages Miguel Friedrich, vice president of sales and marketing at nTact, says: 'Slot die coating is becoming more and more popular because it is typically significantly less costly than vacuum machinery. Big organisations are getting interested and they are starting to move toward pilot production.'

Slot die coaters are versatile and offer very high material utilisation rates. These are important advantages as companies across the world assess the commercial viability of scaling up production of OLEDs, organic photovoltaic cells and other printed electronics.

New techniques
Texas-based nTact has developed its slot die coating technology to meet the demands of the nascent printed electronic industry. This has included improving the uniformity of deposition of thinner films, and evolving specialised macro-patterning and selective area coating capabilities on its machines.

Misfit Wearables allies with Pebble and Beddit

In the past month Misfit Wearables has announced two partnerships with other companies in the wearable device segment.

These provide an insight into the likely business outlook for early entrants into the market as larger device makers look to move into the wearable technology.

Pebble Watch
Pebble has been one of the most successful early wearable technology companies. Having received $10 million (€7.8 million) worth of pre-orders after it launched on Kickstarter in 2012, it is now an established presence on the market.

On 24 June, it was announced that an app is now available for integrating Misfit activity tracking experience and algorithms onto its smartwatch platform. Misfit CEO, Sunny Vu, says: 'We are delighted to provide our fitness tracking technology to Pebble; we want to see this capability offered to as many users as possible.'

Beddit
In a second move Misfit has agreed to work with Beddit, a Finnish firm that makes sleep sensors based around a thin film ballistocardiography (BCG). This will enhance the sleep monitoring capacity of the Misfit system which has previously been based around its own Shine activity tracker.

Holst allies with BOM to maximise connection to SMEs

Dutch research organisation Holst Centre has signed a new accord with the Brabant Development Agency (BOM).

The agreement's aim is to ensure maximum leverage of Holst Centre's expertise in plastic electronics and wireless sensors to turn Belgium and the Netherlands into a hub for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) working in these disciplines.

BOM connections
Peter Visser, programme manager for high tech industry at BOM, explains: 'The south of the Netherlands is one the most innovative regions in Europe. Especially Eindhoven region that is renowned for its high number of patent applications. Holst Centre also generates a lot of patents, but making optimal use of the knowledge in those patents is another matter.

'As a regional development agency BOM has very good connections to SMEs in the high tech arena. We need to reach out and tell these companies that the technology is ready and available to use.'

Holst support
The SMEs that BOM is able to connect with Holst will receive support in three ways. Firstly, licencing agreements will grant them access to the patents Holst has built up over the past 9 years. This intellectual property covers interesting discoveries in thin film processing, lamination, large-area printing, and roll-to-roll production of plastic electronics.

Secondly staff at SMEs will be offered dedicated training either at Holst Centre headquarters in Eindhoven or their own facilities.

Finally, individual SMEs or clusters which operate through the new relationship with BOM will be eligible for the financial support its gives to innovative companies through BOM Capital.

Bert Gyselinckx, co-managing director of Holst, says: 'Through this new collaboration with the BOM, we can more quickly reach a much larger selection of high-tech SMEs and share our latest developments. Moreover, with its network, expertise and financial possibilities, the BOM can offer our international partners essential support.'

SMEs
Visser explains why, despite its good track record working with major firms like DuPont, Fujitsu, BASF and Sony, Holst Centre called on BOM to help it target smaller firms through the new initiative.

He says: 'A lot of large companies all have the same problem - they first need to see a €100 million market opportunity before they look to move on products.' SMEs are better positioned to exploit nascent demand for plastic electronics in fields like healthcare sensors, body area networks, low power gas sensors, and light out-coupling to increasing the luminescence of OLED lights.

Visser says: 'The good part of the story for companies that are not part of the Holst Centre family already is they now can make use of this knowledge to jump start their businesses, and build their own competitive edges on top of it. For cluster around plastic electronics people should think about integration of technologies available and making whole products.'

Local knowledge
Visser, who until November 2013 worked in the Lighting division of Philips, says: 'At the moment we are trying to establish clusters around the Holst knowledge centre. In order to have a solid working collaboration in this new domain you need to be within a certain geographical distance.' This means the new support will be limited to companies in the Netherlands and Belgium - the two states who initially contributed to the establishment and development of Holst Centre.