New Roll-up Laptops

<img src='http://management.silicon.com/i/s4/illo/photos/2006/September/1.JPG' style='margin:5px;' align='left' height='100' width='110'>Future commuters could be set to swap opening the morning paper for unfurling a laptop screen as the roll-up laptop takes one more step towards reality.

A team of engineers at the University of Cambridge have developed 'morphing materials' which have the ability to retain up to three structures, meaning within five years' time it could be possible to roll-up your laptop screen as easily as a newspaper.

A team of engineers at the University of Cambridge have developed 'morphing materials' which have the ability to retain up to three structures, meaning within five years' time it could be possible to roll-up your laptop screen as easily as a newspaper.

Folding structures are already common on the market place: click open your laptop and it doubles in size, pull open your PDA and a keyboard appears.

Rolling devices can be thought of as having an infinite number of hinges, without any of the weaknesses, he said. Dropping your laptop would no longer be a colossal dilemma. So could you ever use your folding laptop to do, say, origami when you're stuck on the Tube? Probably not, said Seffen: "There will be a limitation."

There are still concerns over the integrity of the structure, having a laptop screen unexpectedly unfurl in your trouser pocket could be an eye-watering experience. And Seffen conceded that "at the moment" absolute structural stability has not yet been achieved.

Read More <a href="http://management.silicon.com/itdirector/0,39024673,39162683,00.htm">here.