Typical of iRiver, it runs Flash games/animations/programs, probably flash lite 3.0 (see menu at 6:09). I don't specifically recall any Flash programs being shown off, though. Guess it's just another media format to most folks other than Flash developers. Anyway, I wonder if the interface (that's being harped on in the comments) was done in Flash. Seems pretty snappy from a response standpoint. I'd watch it again to to try to make a guess...but the music makes me tap my fingers and I might distract anyone nearby. Anyone else have dancing finger tips?

It seems reasonable that the low-power ARM-based CPU itself would consume 0.5 watts, but probably not the entire system. I'd guess that the screen, which appears backlit, would consume at least 2 watts by itself. Apologies if the word "computer" was intended to mean the CPU. Anyway, the main points of the article still stand, it's an inexpensive and low-power machine...and that kind of battery-life is not something to be taken lightly. Moreover, if this thing was equipped with one of those Qualcomm MEMS (Mirasol) color displays (or similar) that use ambient light rather than backlights and this puppy wasn't constantly refreshing the screen (as in running a video), then perhaps it could run for 24 hours on a single charge. Cool! That'd be better than a human (if sleep = recharging, rather than food).

I, too, didn't notice anything about a "glow" characteristic in the SG article, although I'd love to be proved wrong. On the other hand, the more something glows, the more power it consumes...which kind of defeats the purpose for an "energy-sipping" display. But perhaps a little glowing would be nice and help out with contrast.

Here's a Tech-On link that seems to be related: http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20081119/161436/?ST=english_PRINT

It says that ECD stands for "ElectroChromic Display." The supplied image makes the technology look a lot like e-ink. It states an 8:1 contrast ratio and 80% reflectivity. Sounds and looks like high reflectivity but low contrast.

The oil-based technology sounds similar to either LiquidVista's electrowetting technology or Qualcomm's MEMS technology. As stated, the Funai technology doesn't need TFT-driving, but does need some power to maintain an image. The Qualcomm technology and LiquidVIsta technologies don't need power to maintain an image (not sure about TFT-driving). Any knowledge out there about the glowing, TFT-driving or related issues?

LiquidVista: http://www.liquavista.com/technology/default.aspx
Qualcomm: http://www.qualcomm.com/qmt/

Yeah, "MOQ" meaning, presumably, "minimum order quantity," so...this puppy wouldn't be selling to end-users at 89 bucks unless one was indepedently wealthy and had 999 friends. It'll be interesting to see the range of the final retail price, but if some deep-discounter could offer these just north or south of a Benjamin, that would be a pretty incredible thing...considering the versatility and relative zippyness of that little ARM CPU-that-could (and did) manage to render most of those websites fairly well. I could see my sister--who is on a budget (sadly, aren't most of us) and kind of hard on products--tossing (litterally) one of these babies in the car in order to have a little WiFi Internet action (the sign at 1 minute into the vid says "WiFi and LAN") or using it at Starbucks. Spill coffee on it? Just hang it out to dry...or buy a new one. "Yes, I'll have a coffee-latte with a PC, please." Heck, at some point, those coffee chains will just provides "PCs" as part of their service, if they're not already. At this price and integration rate, companies could hand these things out as year-end party gifts and so on. And I'm lovin' the instant-on-ness (on nearly so) and battery-life.

I have two PowerShot S2 IS cams purchased a few years back (used partly for multi-cam videos, even through they are principally still cameras). After about a year of light use, one of them suffered the dreaded E18 error, wherein the ultrasonic motor failed to retract the lens. Based on the clicking sound it makes, apparently some (cam, ha-ha) gear is out of alignment. Lightly used, never dropped (the camera that is, I've been dropped), I am reluctant to consider Canon in the future, which seems unfortunate--for the company does seem to innovate in the camera space. Still, the downed still camera sits stilly here in front of me, mocking me with its permanently protruded lens (too expensive to fix). Meanwhile, I'm a bit nervous everytime I use it's still able-bodied twin. Let the buyer beware, I guess.

@bob e: That's what I was thinking. Didn't one of these blog sites just report about the reference design last month? Hmm...maybe they got wind of it late, or perhaps VIA put it in mfg's hands prior to promoting it.

@kccboy2004: Good eye on the track pad thing. The lighting difference is so subtle that you basically have to expect it to be there in order to see it. Hmm...sounds like philosophy. Ya gotta believe!

After an admittedly brief search for a "sfw" file/video format, I'm guessing that the Adobe (formerly Macromedia) swf file format is intended, standing for "small web format" or "Shockwave Flash" depending on the day of week. That's what the read link provided shows after being transgibberdized through Google's better-than-nothing service as "Mosaic positive 2.4-inch screen and can SWF format AVI video broadcast shows the rate can reach 30 frames / sec," which I'm guessing is closer to the source than the english pages cited (though, so far, I haven't been successful verifying that from the horse's mouth at www.aigo.com.cn).

If, indeed, it is Flash, per the usual, no word on what version of Flash it is (Flash 4/5/6/7/8/9, Flash Lite 1.1/2.0+, etc.), whether or not it processes ActionScript for programmatic control, or whether or not it is a licensed version or a home-grown (or third-source) version. For what it's worth, the site www.beareyes.com.cn reports, "2.4 inch color display, support for MP4 (avi), swf format Video Player." However, that doesn't definitively address whether it can run programs (like games other than the usual non-Flash, 16-bit games) or not. Recently, the Ramos V100 had claimed swf ability, but it turns out (according to one programmer) that it only supported timeline playback. Meanwhile, the Ramos V300 (with a seemingly unusual screen resolution) is explicitly claiming Flash Lite 1.1/2.0 ability, but who knows. As always, it's not easy to find full information about Flash compatibility. Perhaps a Chinese-literate person can delve deeper....

To any of us still trying to contemplate an easy way to make sense of this phenomenon, I'd just like to quote Shakespeare’s' Hamlet and say, "There are more things under Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy Horatio." What this means to me is: [1] most people are smart in one or more ways, [2] there is something new that anyone can learn, and, [3] it's often quite interesting to pursue something new. Of course, always look for a simple answer, first (Occam's razor), but there are some things that are beyond our current experience and expectations (and beyond simplistic explanations), i.e., almost mystical and fantastic. Things that gifted physicists and mathematicians would say are of incredibly beauty, I suppose. Then again, sometimes, it’s takes genius to cut through all the noise to distill something to its most basic and pure form. Anyway, having read several of the popular science books on Quantum Physics back in the day by those writer’s which try to explain such things to us mere mortals, all I can say is that I still don’t have a good handle on the key concepts, let alone the science. Nevertheless, I don’t regret having opened my mind a bit to a type of thinking that seems contrary to ordinary logic. Of course, the science hasn’t fully solidified on matters related to this post, and not every physicist is on-board with the counter-intuitive explanations (though most of them seem to be). But if practical devices can be developed using such science (such as, for example, quantum computers calculating currently intractable problems by analyzing all possible solutions simultaneously to collapse to a solution), then more power to it…at least until even better science come along. The point is, if one is interested in going for a proverbial ride down a mind-bending road, then pick up one of the many popular science books (such as one of those by Paul Davies), and strap yourself in. Just be careful that you don’t get too addicted and lose the balance. But whether we partly grasp such things or not, we’re in for an exciting century, don’t you think! And thanks to Engadget for calling such things to our attention (even if not necessarily gadget-centric), and thanks for all the interesting reader viewpoints...because, I for one, enjoy reading them.