OLED technology is great. The panels are extremely thin, drain less power than many other techs, and the screens can even be bendy. Every commercial OLED so far, though, has used indium tin oxide (ITO) as a transparent electrode, which has conductivity issues at low temperatures. But clever researchers at a host of places (Agfa and IMEC of Belgium, Holst Centre, Philips and TNO of the Netherlands) together created an OLED that uses a new transparent polymer called Orgacon, which has up to six times the conductivity of ITO. Even better, the new material is much cheaper to make.

The researchers created a prototype OLED lighting panel about the size of a 4.75-inch square. With the new material, you might be able to walk into a store and buy some flat, bendy light bulbs for a decent price by 2011.

Tech-On and OLED-Info, via Engadget