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Prototype color e-paper skips on filter, cranks up vividness
Fuji Xerox has showcased its latest e-paper model at SID in Boston. The 5-inch 600 x 800 display adjusts the electric field for each color, swinging them between the two layers of the screen. Instead of a typical color filter, an extra layer of white-colored particles between the visible and invisible layer, offering a blank surface when needed, while magenta and cyan particles are in charge of colors on the prototype. The company's already working on CMY arrangement to provide the full range of colors on the finished e-paper model and promise a color gamut wider than a newspaper. Hopefully, it will also involve a much thinner bezel.
3M and Nanosys team-up to roll out quantum dot-enhanced LCDs
Nanosys' eye-popping QDEF (Quantum Dot Enhancement Film) might be inching closer to a display near you. A new partnership with 3M aims to get the color-loving tech commercialized and into mainstream products. The film uses quantum dots to create an LCD with a wider color gamut -- apparently translating to up to 50 percent more color. The quantum dots are packed onto this film in their trillions (yes, trillions) which is then fitted within the backlight. As the new layer would replace the existing one within LCDs, Nanosys' solution aims to avoid the need for new equipment or processes. However, we're still waiting for high-color QDEF to become that "ecosystem changer" we were promised.
Nintendo's black Wii U, first eyes-on
Here's a little treat while we wait for the Nintendo Keynote to kick in: the gaming giant carted out the black version of its upcoming console, placing it on a column at the front of the stage for all to see as we file in for the event. The black Wii U console made an extremely quick cameo on Sunday night's pre-pre-E3 press conference, and we expect to see a good deal more of it in the days to come. In the meantime, however, you can enjoy it in the gallery below. %Gallery-157095% Billy Steele contributed to this report.
Sony: 4K isn't just about the resolution
With M. Night Shyamalan already shooting his next movie -- After Earth -- on the F65 4K camera, Sony's PR machine is going all out to assuage remaining doubters in the film industry. One of the more curious aspects of the awareness campaign is that it doesn't focus solely on the exorbitant resolution -- in fact, it gives almost equal weight to other visual promises that Sony hopes will persuade producers, directors and cinematographers to make the leap before anyone else does. What might those eyeball treats be? Philippe Ros, a DoP hired by Sony to shoot a 4K promo film, put it succinctly at a showing we attended in London this week: "Only the first row in the cinema may notice the resolution, but I'm more interested in the colors than in the 4K." According to Ros, every terabyte that floods out of the F65 per hour of filming contains color and dynamic range info way beyond what you normally get when shooting digital. The end result? Crews on the ground can relax just that little bit more, knowing that any mundane-looking scenes can be given far greater impact later. Now, even bearing in mind that Ros couldn't have said anything bad about 4K without things getting awkward, it's still interesting that he admits to being skeptical of the resolution itself. But if others on independent shoots discover the same post-production flexibility that he did, then the push for 4K might come from filmmakers rather than those further down the food chain.
Color announces Verizon partnership, preaches the dream of streaming HD
Color founder Bill Nguyen describes the startup's early life as being "in the wilderness," a state, he adds, that can also be used to describe past projects he's helmed (a point we can't exactly argue). Of course, Lala finally found its way -- eventually being scooped up by Apple. And now Color, an app that's already lived through its share of lives, has a big name on its side. The company has partnered with none other than Verizon to help soup up its life-streaming service. The two sides have signed an exclusivity deal that promises to harness Big Red's zippy LTE. The version of the app which will be exclusively available to subscribers of that carrier brings with it some much welcomed upgrades, including sound and a higher frame rate. Color was pretty insistent that such things weren't key to the app's functionality when it first launched, but it has apparently seen the error of its ways. As Nguyen told us, simply, "we were wrong." Now, thanks to Verizon's 4G technology, it's now able to offer up a product closer to an ideal streaming situation -- a scenario Nguyen apparently decided upon after playing around with a Red camera at CES. The dream now is live HD streaming. More after the break.
HTC launches kickstand-tastic One S cases, we go hands-on
Kickstand lovers rejoice! Not content with jazzing up its One X flagship, HTC just sent us a set of cases made specifically for its lovely One S. These come in four colors -- gray, granita (red), navy blue and black -- the latter featuring a tweaked design with an integrated kickstand. Unlike most third-party products, build quality is top-notch -- the accessories use a precision-molded flexible plastic shell covered in a soft touch finish. The kickstand is made of a metal alloy and is spring-loaded, but blocks access to the micro-USB port when in use. While the cases protect the back and sides of the One S, the front remains exposed to potential damage. Availability is slated as "soon", but pricing is $24.99 for the plain model and $39.99 for the kickstand version. Enjoy the gallery below.
Nintendo's 'Midnight Purple' 3DS made official, eggplanting at retailers on May 20
Bust out your bright purple tennis racket and get weird with Nintendo on May 20 when the new "Midnight Purple" 3DS launches alongside Mario Tennis Open. Nintendo announced the new 3DS color scheme this morning after retailer listings this past weekend outed the new color.Like the quartet of 3DS flavors already available for purchase, Midnight Purple (or "Big Purp," as we're calling it) will retail for $170 when it arrives next month. Will there be a Grimace-tied promotion at McDonald's alongside the launch? We can only dream.
LG's 5-inch Optimus Vu shipping soon in white (in Korea, at least)
Just under two months after LG's Optimus Vu got priced for the hometown market, in flies news that another hue will soon be on those very same shelves. The 5-inch, 4:3 ratio'd Android smartphone will soon hit South Korea in white, purportedly targeting the "younger" market -- you know, folks who like "cool" things (a translation for "refreshing," we're told). Folks can look for the device -- which should remain unchanged outside of the external color -- to hit SK Telecom as early as next week, but there's no word on when (or if) it'll spread to other markets.
HTC talks smartphone design: from inception to final product
At the Frequencies media summit in Seattle over the last two days, HTC walked us through the fine details on how its smartphones are developed, going from the boring rectangular ABS block to the more refined plastic mockups that are presented to carriers and focus groups -- the findings of which then shape the final product. Sadly, we weren't allowed to take photos of the One X mockups that were shown to us, but do read on to learn the general process of how an HTC phone goes from inception to the final product.
Hands-on with HTC's colorful One X cases
We just got our hands on a couple of new cases that HTC's making specifically for its One X flagship. The colorful accessories -- which the company showcased at its Frequencies media event in Seattle -- are made of a flexible PTFE-like (polytetrafluoroethylene) material and are designed to both protect and enhance the appearance of the device. Different designs will be available, but we only got to see the one. Sadly, we have no info on pricing or availability at this time. Take a look at our gallery below.
Daily iPhone App: Visual uses color to keep track of the time
I don't like to spend a lot of time keeping myself on schedule. When I have a 15-minute block to send off some emails, I want a timer app that's easy to setup and simple to use. One that'll let me see quickly how much time I have left before I have to move on to another task. That's where Visual steps in. It's a timer app that ditches the digital or analog readout and replaces it with color. Rather than counting down with numbers, the app uses color changes to let you know how much time you have left . When Visual launches, you can tap on the screen to set your timer. The app uses traffic light colors as its default color scheme, which means the timer starts off green, turns to yellow at the half way point and then to red when the timer is almost up. If you don't like this color scheme, you can select from five other presets. You can also set alert tones that'll chime when the color changes. Using a color scheme instead of numbers means that Visual is exceptionally easy to use. I don't have to avert my gaze and focus on a set of numbers. I just have to catch a glimpse of the colors to know how much time I have left. I find that I don't even have to take my eyes off my work, if I can see the timer's color from the corner of my eye. Visual is missing a few features, like the ability to set a recurring timer and the option to overlay digits if you prefer. The app does show a digital timer, but it's very tiny and you can't see the numbers unless the phone is in your hand. It would be nice if there was an option to show a large digital timer on top of the color timer. Such an option would give you the best of both worlds. Visual is available in the iOS App Store for $US0.99.
Dot color explains why colors look so nice on the new iPad
Jeff Yurek of Dot Color spent some time exploring the color performance of the new iPad. He, like many others, noticed that the colors on the iPad were richer than the iPad 2 and hypothesized that Apple improved the color filters. After analyzing various spectrum charts, he concludes that Apple limits the light leakage of the display by improving the color filters. You can see the improvement in an example photo on his website. The side-by-side shot shows a greenish hue leaking through the blue on the iPad 2, and the rich blue of the iPad third generation. Though pleasing to the eye, he notes that these color filter improvements require 20 to 30 percent more power to maintain the display's brightness. This may partly explain why Apple opted to go with a large, 42.5-watt-hour battery in the new iPad.
YouTube wants to make your crummy video slightly less crummy
Upload a lot of videos to YouTube, but still can't afford that tripod? No worries, the Google-owned video site today announced some welcome additions to its editor, which can detect problems with your video and offer up corrections, so you can brighten things up a bit or eliminate some of the shakiness. If you're the type who needs this information explained in animated form, check out the YouTube video after the break. The feature, meanwhile, will be rolling out to users over the next few days.
Samsung confirms pink Galaxy Note coming soon, we go hands-on (video)
Sure, you can personalize your Galaxy Note by sketching with the 5.3-inch phablet's S Pen, but there's no better way to express your mobile-obsessed self than by dressing your device in a flashy new color. Pink is the flavor of the month over at Samsung, which just gave us a sneak peek at its rosy Android hybrid at its CeBIT booth in beautiful Hannover, Germany. The sample on hand is of the shell-only variety, in that it doesn't include any internals, but looks pretty juicy even in its static state. The device is virtually identical to its blue and white counterparts, though its backplate is textured like that of the blue model, rather than the glossy rear you'll see on the white. There's not much more to say about pinky here, considering that the sample device won't even power on, but jump past the break for our hands-on video if you'd care to take a closer look. And keep an eye out for the pink Note in a store near you -- it's expected to land (in Germany, at least) within the next two months.%Gallery-149444%
PSA: Xbox Live color playback issue patched
Xbox users may have noticed a mandatory patch preempting their power-up procedures today, the effects of which were either immediately apparent or completely unnoticeable, depending on whether a certain color display issue had reared its head. The patch doesn't apply to apps, however, so developers will have to implement the fix independently; a process that will take place "over the coming months," according to Major Nelson.Technically speaking, "over the coming months" could mean any time between now and the heat death of the universe, but the fact that Microsoft has corrected its own services is a promising start.
Nokia accidentally reveals white Lumia 900
It looks like it. It seems plenty of you were enraptured by that hypnotic white Lumia 800 we paid a visit to yesterday, but in all the glossy fun, Nokia accidentally revealed the above press shot -- a white Lumia 900. The picture was soon lifted from Nokia's Conversations blog, but it remains on its Facebook page, flashing an exposed micro-USB port and front-facing camera that identifies this snow-white slab as the Lumia 900 kind. The press shot also flashes a view of that non-curved glass front; it certainly looks like our wishes are coming true. Now we just have to wait and see if this color option is ready for that plausible March release date. Update: Dave Zatz was apparently offered a choice of white or black models when discussing his Lumia 900 pre-order options at a Microsoft store. Maybe we'll see this one from launch. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]
White Nokia Lumia 800 hands-on
Today's been all about the white phones, and Nokia's new Lumia matches that glossy finish we saw on its near-identical twin, the white N9. Here, opposing the matte goodness of the rest of Lumia 800 family, the unibody shell has an almost-enamel feel on what is still largely the same polycarbonate material (Nokia tells us that each "batch" has to be tweaked for each color). From our brief play with the device, it's looking to be a pretty pervasive color choice to go alongside that pitch-black AMOLED screen. We know the phone is set to arrive later this month, blessing fans of blanc in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and another handful of European countries. See how its good looks stack up against the rest of the Lumia rainbow in our hands-on gallery below.
Nokia confirms white Lumia 800, shipping without pigment this month
Nokia does love teasing us with its albino-hued special editions, and so it did with the white Lumia 800 back in December. Now that phone is following the color-free road to retail later this month. Other than the eye-pleasing lack of color the phone looks to be identical to its rather more chromatic predecessors, with a 3.7-inch AMOLED display up front and a 1.4GHz processor inside. It looks good, but it just leaves us with one question: how long will we have to wait for a white Lumia 900? Update: According to Nokia's Conversations blog, the phone will launch first in these countries: UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Finland, Poland and Switzerland.
Koobe's Jin Yong Reader gets Mirasol, brings color to Taiwanese hearts
It's no accident that Koobe's Jin Yong Reader bears a striking resemblance to Kyobo's eReader and Shanda's Bambook which we toyed with back at CES. But while those e-readers brought Mirasol to their respective South Korean and Chinese markets, Koobe's entrant will do the same for Taiwan. As for the trio's striking resemblance, know that they're all based on the same Qualcomm-heavy reference hardware, which pairs a 1GHz Snapdragon S2 with a 5.7-inch 1024 x 728 XGA Mirasol display. For those unaware, the addition of the latter part means the e-readers boast limited color on their non-backlit displays, all while retaining an E Ink-like low power draw. The trinity also feature a highly customized layer atop Gingerbread, and in Koobe's case, come pre-loaded with 15 novels by, you guessed it, Jin Yong. Naturally, pricing and exact availability have yet to be announced, but we're told they'll be available "soon." PR for those interested awaits after the break.
Hanvon C-18 Mirasol e-reader hands-on (video)
Qualcomm unveiled its new C-18 Mirasol e-reader yesterday, and today, we managed to get our hands on it here at CES. Manufactured by Hanvon, this device is officially labeled as an e-reader, though to be honest, it felt more like a tablet to us. Unlike the lightweight Kindle, the C-18 felt a tad heavy in our hands, with backlighting more typical of a slate than reader. It also runs its own Android skin, which raises some interesting questions of how many Android apps it would support. The color Mirasol display certainly piqued our interests, though we'll have to wait a little bit longer before we get a closer look at it, as the C-18 won't hit the Chinese market until February, with no set date for a US launch yet (price remains equally opaque). For more details, check out our gallery below, along with the hands-on video, after the break. Mat Smith contributed to this report.
