We've long had a thing for Pixel Qi and its energy sipping dual-mode LCDs with switchable backlight; displays that carve out a niche between traditional LCDs hungry for power and long living e-paper displays. Unfortunately, even though Pixel Qi
began to ramp production lines late last year, we still haven't seen the displays shipping in any retail products. Turns out that while the screens have been made available in some "
specialized products that aren't sold in stores yet," Pixel Qi's manufacturer of choice ran into some snags that slowed down deployments. That seems set to change according to a new blog post by CEO Mary Lou Jepsen. Manufacturing has now ramped to the schedule and scale required to meet "strong pull from the some of the largest computer companies in the world." Mary Lou also tells us that Pixel Qi's
DIY display kit partner will be announced shortly and that it has "wider viewing angle technology" coming in the fall that should help rectify one of Pixel Qi's weaknesses. So yeah, good news all around, but we've
heard these promises before and
still don't have product in hand.
posted April 28th 2010 1:17AM
These guys have been delayed for so long I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be excited or not...
@month Oops. the first one didn't pop up and I thought it was cause of the language, the guys still an idiot though either way.
@Rem DX
Trust me my friend, it is going to be worth the wait. I have been waiting for this for so long now. I WANT THIS IN A TABLET PC or iPAD NOW!!
@Rem DX Indeed, but it is not easy to do this... It is trully revolutionary technology. And it seems to me that this company cant afford to be getting bad PR.
As long as they release the product in a way that behaves nicely I am happy with the delays....
For me this is just amazing news. Cant wait for it to start being deployed in the next wave of tablet/ereaders/mobile/mp3 player frankenstein.
@Mr w00t
This technology isn't THAT revolutionary... they just put the transflective layer in front of the color filters, rather than behind them.
That being said, I am excited at the prospect of seeing this technology in actual products.
THAT being said, I'd be far more excited to see Mirasol displays... which is a bit more revolutionary, in my opinion.
@Rem DX I hear it will come bundled with Duke Nukem Forever.
I like this better than the 3d fad that's goimg on. Altough I might be biased since I can't see 3d
@Coober - samesies.
@Coober
I can see 3D, but it sucks. Just gives you a headache and makes the screen darker (glasses.)
@Coober you're not missing out.... trust me -___-
Wheres my ADAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@bobewreckem
YES. Where is this man's ADAM's APPLE?
And where is my ADAM Tablet?!
Why do so many companies fudge their marketing like this. No one expected this type of technology until they basically promised us it was coming but 6 months later they still aren't shipping products.
Then when there is word that it's finally coming out we get word that a better option with a better viewing angle is coming the following season. Marketing 101: Push your current tech as the best tech when you can actually sell it.
@Bender Bending Rodriguez i guess it's to motivate investors to support them, so they have the money to actually build the stuff?
I've been anxiously awaiting Pixel Qi news... I wish these were available yesterday. Does anyone know if I can buy one of these screens now if I go to Taipei?
@lasered nugget
You mean go to Pixel Qi's doorstep and ask for a manufacturing sample? You can try, but you don't have to do that in Taipei. They have offices in the USA you know.
They're not on the market in Taiwan yet. As far as I can tell, they won't be until they're available everywhere else too. I'm waiting eagerly for it myself, and I hope to see something announced by Computex in June. If all they have then are their old demo samples, I'm going to lose faith in them.
[resistive FTW!]
okay, i'm not sure how that happened.. but i was meant to say 'QI FTW'
@glenskey That's one weird typo...
@Mr Blurrycam
the keys are like right next to each other.
This is the screen the ipad needs to make the device unbeatable. Companies now have a shot at making the perfect tablet pc, and maybe upsetting the Apple cart
@pprior, some coming Android devices already incorporated Pixel Qi.
Oh yes, I am seeing Adam coming more close to my hands now. I want it by August man I am deing to hear anything from them.
Everytime I see or hear about any tablet or convertable netbook or Andriod handheld I want to bring "Adam" up because I think it will be The Andriod Device all in one package. Bring it on guys show us something.
@TheFireDragon Finally the Adam will appear...we can only hope.
@TheFireDragon Im in the same boat. I really want a good e-reader but want all the extra multimedia web functionality as well. Once I heard about the Adam it fits almost all the criteria I need. Once you decide you want something the wait is hard. I do wonder if they will hold out for the new screens or ship before fall. There were rumours of an update due by the end of the month on their linked facebook page.
@waxernz
True, there is much more to love specially "Adam" because of how does it look. Than the guys are not yet into real business which in this case is positive point because they are putting their heart into a dream, not into a product everyone else is trying to produce.
I have a strong reason to believe the device will be available by August because 15th of August is India's national day and this should be the day to bring this out, or at least the month.
i have yet to see an image of pixelQi display without washed-out colors
@Formul well I have yet to see anything at all on my current display out in the sun (or near a bright window)... and my battery life sucks...
Hope the pixel qi screens are anti-glare. Should be awesome, can't wait for Adam!
@took using any display in direct sunlight will suck anyway (more or less), and i take sucking more in sunlight over sucking everywhere else ...
They have mentioned the use of a matte finish screen in the past. It makes sense if you want the light to reflect off the back panel rather than a glass front whilst in the e-ink and transflective modes.
@waxernz It makes sense to use a matte finish on nearly all mobile devices yet you can hardly find a laptop or cellphone without glossy display.
Manufacturers think like this: 'Shiny shiny' sells and we don't care if you are blinded by the reflection.
Sorry Pixel Qi, I couldn't wait. I ended up buying a super-cheap refurb'd netbook from Dell to tide me over in the meantime.
I will admit, this is how all LCD screens should operate. Can they do it is the question?
I'd like to get a cheap ULV tablet with thiz!
I just want a DIY kit so I can swap my Netbook screen with one of these and call it a day
@budice4ever
You have read my mind. I want to rip the (admittedly nice) screen out of my netbook and pop this in. I'd have it in E-Ink mode 99% of the time as all I use the damned thing for is reading PDFs and forums anyway.
I think this is pretty cool. I have never actually read a book on E-ink but I imagine it is more friendly to read. But I also know I could not browse the internet and do stuff that involves more visuals and less graphics on E-ink, so would bet this could be pretty cool.
Some company needs to jump on this and build a legitimate mass market e-reader/slate that the UI & hardware is very user friendly to switching back and forth depending on what you are doing...
This hints at why I have not bought an E-reader... I like the idea, but I don't want to be carrying around a device that IS JUST good at reading text. To me it seems so 1990.
@cr8tive
edit: "more visuals and less text"