News written by Matti Robinson (November, 2015)

While OLED displays are still in the minority and LCD is far from obsolete, new press release from LG reveals that the surge into new display technology is well on its way.

LG tells us that it has decided to invest 1.84 trillion Korean won (over $1.5 billion) to develop and manufacture OLED displays. The company says that the displays will come in different sizes from smartwatches and automotive displays to TVs.

LG doesn't even mention smartphones but as BGR notes there's a chance that such huge investments come in the wake of an equally huge deal with the like of Apple. Rumors have it that Apple will rely on LCD panels on its next iPhone models but this manufacturing plant, called the P10, wouldn't even be ready for the iPhone 7.

The manufacturing of the next generation OLED panels start in the first half of 2018 which would be in time for the iPhone 8 and its possible siblings. Currently Apple's only OLED panels are in the Apple Watch and they're manufactured by LG.

LG's biggest competitor in the OLED space is Samsung, which not only produces them but utilizes the panels in most of its flagship phones.

While most of the US was concentrating yesterday on turkey and pumpkin pie the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a patent by Apple, Apple Insider reports. This patent appears to be a way to protect devices from external liquids and dirt.

In the patent Apple explains how devices could prevent water and other things from getting to vulnerable parts such as microphone or the speaker. A electronically controlled set of shutters or louvers would close the openings automatically when not in use.

The patent included several pictures (above) of proposed applications that feature different kinds of means of shutting a variety of openings. The patent suggests that this could be even used to protect the headphone jack and the card readers which usually require a clumsy hatch of some kind.

Will the patent make its way to the next generation of Apple products, that we'll have to see. But even if it doesn't Apple clearly wants to make their products more durable – which certainly hasn't been their strong suit in the past.

A company that has brought the ultra cheap and small computer to the masses is pushing the pricing down even more. Raspberry Pi's latest creation is called Zero and indeed closes up on the free computer.

As Raspberry Pi has told over the three years they have sold the computer-on-a-chip solutions, it is all about bringing computing to everyone. The newest computer, Raspberry Pi Zero, is available to even the poorest amateur programmers or computer or electronics hobbyist, and in sense is the ultimate Raspberry Pi.

The new model includes the same Broadcom processor as the first model but has been clocked a bit higher and therefore gives 40% more oomph. You'll find also 512 MB of RAM on the chip as well as microSD slot and two microUSB slots that allow both power and networking. There's also the 40 pin general purpose I/O connector that you would find from other RaspPi models as well.

The chip computer is 65mm x 30mm x 5mm in size and only costs $5 to the resellers. The price should not be a problem even after the retailer takes its piece of the cake. You'll also find the computer for free with the newest edition of MagPi magazine.