In the Gates / Jobs interview at D5 last year, Gates said that flexible displays were about 5-years out if my memory serves me correctly. Screen-size is one of the stumbling blocks getting in the way of smartphones moving into other product categories, including personal computing, and if the problem was solved it would only leave processing power and battery life issues to be solved before smartphones really could become the only device you need to go mobile with.

Update on the UMPCs available, the tech and software. regularly updated.

IDG New service is reporting today about a 5″ folding screen that could be one possible solution. PC Advisor is running the story and reports that the concept design, by European design company Pilotfish, is based around a real, hinged screen developed by Taiwan’s publicly funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI.) The interesting thing about the screen is that the hinge is actually a display element. Apparently a touchscreen version is in development which just leaves the issue of a customer to find. We’d estimate a 3-year timeframe before you saw this on any device but I’m sure smartphone ODMs will be interested in this one in order to take their portable device to the next level. See PC Advisor for another image of the device ‘closed.’