Martyn Williams

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has developed what it says is the world's first organic light emitting diode (OLED) display that measures 40-inches across the diagonal. OLEDs have been viewed as a potential replacement for LCDs (liquid crystal displays) and PDPs (plasma display panels) in some applications for several years. They don't require a power-hungry backlight and so are viewed favorably for portable applications. Generally faster response rates of OLED screens means they are also being considered for use in televisions.

TDK Corp. has developed a prototype Blu-ray Disc that can store twice as much data, and record it at twice the speed, as existing Blu-ray Discs. The disc, unveiled at a TDK exhibition in Tokyo this week, can record data at 72M bps (bits per second), double the 36M bps rate for current Blu-ray Discs. TDK increased the write speed by using a more powerful laser and making some changes to the material of the disc's recording layer.

It doesn't take a palm reader to figure out the future of one of Fujitsu Ltd.'s latest security products. The Tokyo company said on Tuesday it will expand sales of its palm-vein biometric security system outside Japan before the end of this year. The system, which relies on the pattern of veins inside a person's hand to verify identity, has been available in Japan since the middle of last year and is already in use in some high-profile applications.

NEC Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. will work more closely together in the areas of systems integration, network technologies and middleware, the companies said Tuesday. The companies will combine NEC's Univerge voice over IP (VoIP) gear with Sun's SunRay blade servers and promote the result as a SunRay reference architecture to customers worldwide.

IBM Corp.'s design services unit has begun promoting the new Cell microprocessor, developed together with Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp., to potential users outside of the consumer electronics industry in which the chip is likely to first appear.

The first direct telephone service between North and South Korea will be available in both countries from late May, South Korea's KT Corp. said Friday.

Turbolinux Inc. achieved profitability in Japan and China for the first time last year and is now looking to expand its operations in India, its chief financial officer (CFO) said Wednesday.

Two South Korean mobile phone makers are planning an overseas expansion of their respective businesses this year with a push into the European and North American markets. In a move that's sure to confuse some customers, both companies are going to use the same brand: Pantech.