Blue Spark, NTERA Develop Low Voltage Battery Display

Blue Spark Technologies, a supplier of thin, flexible printed batteries, says it will partner with NTERA, a developer of flexible, all-printed color changing display technologies, to demonstrate what it calls the world’s lowest voltage battery display system. The first demo has been presented at CARTES 2008 in Paris in early November, an international conference and exposition focused on the global plastic card manufacturing and technology market.

According to industry experts, the market for smart cards has been steadily expanding, reaching USD $12 billion worldwide in 2007 with over four billion smart cards (i.e., embedded chip cards) shipped. This growth can be attributed to several major trends, including the need for increased security and authentication to counteract fraud and identity theft, the growing popularity of contactless payment, and consumer attraction to wallet-size cards integrating visual, interactive and tactile innovations.

In combining Blue Spark Technologies’ innovative battery chemistries and application design capabilities with NTERA’s ultra-thin, color-changing, 1.5 Volt compatible display technologies, the companies can provide added value to card makers, helping them to reduce material costs and streamline manufacturing, assembly and integration processes. In addition, both Blue Spark’s and NTERA’s products, materials and manufacturing processes are eco-friendly and completely disposable.

Matt Ream, vice president of marketing for Blue Spark Technologies, notes: “For card companies, this partnership represents a remarkable synergy between two leaders in the burgeoning smart card and printed electronics space. Our thin, flexible batteries provide the ideal flat-profile, ‘green’ power source needed to power NTERA-enabled aesthetically pleasing color changing displays. Together, our technologies uniquely help manufacturers of smart cards to gain greater business value, along with increased consumer attention and buy-in.”

Chris Giacoponello, vice president of business development and marketing for NTERA, adds: “Because of their fundamental cost and integration advantages, low-voltage, all-printed technologies will drive the success of the printed electronics revolution. We are seeing rapidly growing interest in our NCD technology for smart cards, smart objects and smart packaging. Low power consumption will be a critical success factor for these applications, and 1.5 Volt systems are ideally positioned to meet market performance requirements.”