Tomorrow’s Concepts from E-Tech Conference

Your next netbook could have a low-cost display called 3Qi that combines features from the low-power, One Laptop Per Child XO PC with an even lower-power, electronic-paper-style display with triple the resolution. The screen could also be able to display full-scale graphics for when you want to enjoy video. The company, 3Qi, will sell 10” screens to laptop makers this year. The 3Qi is an LCD screen made of glass, but if manufacturers switched to plastic, it would be cheaper to produce since components can be printed onto it directly. That's because HP spin-off Phicot has worked out how to etch 3D components on a plastic sheet without slippage or stretching. This control layer is only the first step, and there are still problems to iron out, but Phicot screens could eventually serve as high-quality e-paper at a tenth of the cost of today's cheapest LCD display.