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Matt Nelson

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Mar 27, 2009
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Five inventions that will change your life

Tags: arizona state university

[Source: FoxNews, Jennifer Lawinski] -  How is an iPhone like a wine glass?

Both will shatter if you drop them, and they're kind of hard to use afterward.

Today's PC, PDA and TV displays today are made of glass and can be easily destroyed if they fall, throwing $200 or more down the drain.

Flexible displays, on the other hand, bend upon impact and withstand much more abuse when klutzy users drop them.

One flexible display being worked on even rolls up into a tube the size of a finger. Developed by Norwegian firm Polymer Vision, the Readius portable e-reader uses electronic ink like the Amazon Kindle — but the Kindle can't be rolled up and put into your pocket. Expect it on the market this year.

More rugged, less literary flex-screen devices are also underway.

Arizona State University and the U.S. Army are jointly working on flexible touchscreen displays to be used by soldiers in the field. They'll take a lot of punishment but still be able to function normally.

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