[LAS VEGAS] The world's top tech companies are placing big bets on curved screens. At the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung on Monday launched a 105-inch behemoth that displays ultra-high definition. Its fellow South Korean rival, LG, announced both a curved TV and a curved smartphone, the G Flex. Both companies are showing off HDTVs whose screen you can bend on demand.

Whether there's actually a market for these devices, or if they're just outlandish proofs of concept, is anyone's guess. For how much they're likely to cost (they won't say, but Samsung's 55-inch curved screen retails for US$9,000), the bendy screens don't seem very worth it. But gimmickry aside, the technology behind these devices is the real achievement, because they point to a future where flexible materials have become a common fixture everywhere - and not just in the living room.

"It's a big leap forward," said John Richard, the global business manager of DuPont's displays division.