The basic idea is the same for all of them: subscribers get a fancy handset with a large colour screen and usually a built-in camera.

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Standard onboard features include the Audio 20 with a 14.7 cm colour screen, a twin tuner, an MP3-capable CD player and a USB connection.

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Last May, Plastic Logic demonstrated a paper-like flexible screen capable of playing video in colour, which is achieved by placing a filter on top of the original black-and-white display.

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However, instead of each pixel representing a colour, as in the image on a screen, these readings show all the different chemical compounds present in each of the thousands of tiny patches that together make up the sample.

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At key moments, for example, Mr Scorsese floods the screen with colour filters to provide a powerful visual correlate of what his characters are feeling.

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