Arizona State University (ASU) and HP said they've jointly created the first prototype of affordable and flexible electronic displays.

This is not the first time we've come across claims like this. Over 12 years ago, IBM was shooting its mouth off about flexible displays. But HP reckons that this is a production feat, and a "milestone" ti creat a market. And what's more, the displays "leapfrog" ordinary displays by using up to 90 per cent less materials by volume. The power consumption is lower.

What's it all about? ASU and HP used self aligned imprint lithography (SAIL). Sometimes you wonder if the marketeers think of the acronym first and then find words to explain it.

SAIL lets you fabricate thin film transistor (TFT) arrays on flexible plastic in what HP claims is a low cost and "roll to roll" manufacturing process.

Du Pont Teijen helped ASU and HP, together with E Ink, to create stacks of semiconductor materials and metals on polyethylene napthalate (PEN) substrates. HP wants to license the intellectual property to others. Neither HP nor ASU said when we could expect to see such marvellous devices in production. X