Folding smartphone display introduced

Smartphones go CinemaScope? Not quite, but researchers at Taiwan's publicly funded Industrial Technology Research Institute announced the development of the TFT-EPD (Thin Film Transistor Electrophoretic Display), a folding smartphone display that enables the device screen to double in size to five inches. PC World reports that the mock-up device is styled like other smartphones but opens like a book turned on its side, with the display on the top half and the keyboard on the bottom half--the remainder of the five-inch screen is hidden underneath the keyboard, and may be pulled up to reveal the full screen as required. A flexible portion along the center of the screen allows the screen to open and close. According to Nick Vasiljevic, managing director of Pilotfish, the firm hired by ITRI to design the smartphone model, work is underway on additional TFT-EPD screen sizes--in addition, the ITRI is working to add touchscreen technology to the display.

For more on the TFT-EPD technology:
- read this PC World article