The Ducati setup look to be what's refered to as a babbit ear setup. As mentioned Mercedes used it in the 30's, I think. Also OSCA, formed by the Maserati brothers, used it in the late 50's early 60's. I think the other poster is refering to a new setup, thats still being patend.
There are also cam less engines. Ford research these in the 60's. Renault used a camless engine in F1, during the late 80's early 90's. It was pneumatic powered. They were 2000 RPM above Honda and Ferrari's redline at the time. CAT and Cummins and some developement engines that were camless and I think BMW too. I am thinking with the cost of Piezo electronics, this might be a possiblity. Also, any friction or drag in an engine is becoming a concern. It effects MPG.
Briggs & Stratton had some rotary valve engines on there were some for model airplane engines, HP and Austrian company I think.
I've had two cars break their timing belts. One was a 78 Honda Civic. Non-interference. I just put on a new belt, that was fairly easy. The other was a '96 Ford Contour. The first belt went for 126K, when it was changed. The belt that broke went about 45K. The 2.0L Zetec is listed as an interference motor. I was doing about 20 to 30 mph and slowing down to turn, when it broke. I replaced the belt and the motor had a slight tick. I did check the valves by turn the motor over to see if any stuck. They seemed OK. The motor is running OK at a bit over 200K.
Tom