KDDI shows off cellphone-linked e-paper display

KDDI (smartly) doesn't seem to be ready to go all Foleo / Redfly-like, but it apparently does see some benefit in a cellphone companion of sorts, and it's now showing off a considerably different spin on the idea that relies simply on a stripped-down e-paper display. Even more unconventionally, the setup makes use of good old IrDA to transfer images from the phone to the display (a 13.1-incher built by Bridgestone) which, when combined with the inherent slowness of the display itself, adds up to a page refresh time of 12 seconds. It is still in prototype form though, so there's at least a chance that a few of those seconds will get shaved off by the time it's released, and an equally decent chance that it never actually sees the light of day.

[peacefulpony @ Oct 14th 2008 3:00PM]

This is way more exciting than all those new Apple products!

[PGP-Protector @ Oct 14th 2008 3:02PM]

Sweet.
COLOR

[Ian @ Oct 14th 2008 3:28PM]

Exactly! Why isn't this the headline? Color e-paper is a huge thing.

[Troels C @ Oct 14th 2008 3:46PM]

Indeed. Very very good news for epaper enthusiasts like me :)

[Plothole @ Oct 14th 2008 3:49PM]

Eh, if it were color eInk then it'd be a headline. IIRC Bridgestone uses a form of bistable LCD, similar to the Flepia technology, which take several seconds to refresh.

[Troels C @ Oct 14th 2008 5:36PM]

@Plothole
Ah, sorry. Thanks for the info.

[garrenteed @ Oct 14th 2008 3:04PM]

It looks like its going to really expensive to turn stuff in to teachers in the future

[James @ Oct 14th 2008 3:09PM]

Learn to form a coherent sentence before posting on engadget please.

[iKurt @ Oct 14th 2008 3:09PM]

At first glance, I thought this was a hands-on at the Apple mac tablet or e-book.

[James @ Oct 14th 2008 3:11PM]

Come on the last 10 posts were about apple can we leave them out of this post.

[Patriks7 @ Oct 14th 2008 3:11PM]

Non Apple post?!
/me faints

[xcise @ Oct 14th 2008 3:18PM]

IrDA ? lots of cells don't have that tech anymore, and probably in the near future, there will be none.
what about a bluetooth version ? or a wifi ? think of that KDDI...

[L @ Oct 14th 2008 3:26PM]

Afaik Bluetooth never really took off in Japan, and IrDA is still pretty much the standard for local phone connectivity there...

[Phoenix @ Oct 14th 2008 3:31PM]

How do you work a IrDA Headset...

[iEye @ Oct 14th 2008 3:20PM]

I'd rather see them integrate e-inc onto that cell phone there so that I would have a nice 14-day standby cell phone for the times when I would not want to risk taking along my iPhone, since it is such a sought-after- internet/phone/multimedia device...

you know, a cheap phone that you can use to make calls and text message (as painfull as that might be without the virtual keyboard... ugh) but it is better than letting those TSA agents e-bay your iPhone (made by Apple)

[Phoenix @ Oct 14th 2008 3:31PM]

...Just go away. I'm not even gonna BOTHER countering your points.

Anyone else wanna take the time?

[BigD145 @ Oct 14th 2008 7:43PM]

Only if I understood what was going on.

[muddyh2o @ Oct 14th 2008 3:29PM]

i must have missed it- when did steve jobs announce this??

[rcappo @ Oct 14th 2008 3:55PM]

This is what I wanted Steve to announce. Get eBooks over iTunes, have the entire screen be touch sensitive, and integrate everything behind the screen. Have it come with a wireless keyboard and mouse for people who need to type a lot. I've had my Windows/Linux tablet for almost 5 years and it is great to travel with.

It just needs to be a large iTouch, but running Mac OS X. And don't charge $1500 more than a similar PC product just because you can. There is a reason why they are only at 17.6% market share still.

[StalematE @ Oct 14th 2008 3:38PM]

color! idkfa iddqd idspispopd and ready!

[unruled @ Oct 14th 2008 3:46PM]

Holy shit, is that sum colour e-ink I see there?

fucking huge.

The fact that its slow in refreshing isn't so bad, b/w e-ink has improved there, so this will too.

[Plothole @ Oct 14th 2008 5:27PM]

It's color, but it's NOT eInk.

[Will @ Oct 14th 2008 6:21PM]

It's not E Ink, but it IS electrophoretic (charged black + white particles) - Colour filter on top. It's called a QR-LPD, Quick Response Liquid Powder Display. It is NOT LCD!!!

[Plothole @ Oct 14th 2008 7:25PM]

Okay, fine!! But it's still much slower than eInk.

[Justin @ Oct 14th 2008 10:10PM]

Niiice I love this shit

[thatrotierkid @ Oct 29th 2008 2:30PM]

http://users.wpi.edu/~rkim/ma2611/balaconc.txt