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Plastic Logic demoes flexible color display for e-readers (video)
Plastic Logic has getting by with some eastern love since last year, when RUSNANO's $700 million investment helped the e-reader maker land its Plastic Logic 100 in Russian schools. The latest fruit of that partnership is a prototype of its first flexible color e-reader display, which delivers 4,000-plus hues at a resolution of 75 ppi. The screen contains some 1.2 million plastic transistors, and it's able to bend without distorting images thanks to a top filter and a 150-ppi display below that flex at the same rate. Skip past the break for a demo clip of the tech in action, appropriately featuring some Matryoshka dolls.
Kyobo eReader with Mirasol display gets video walkthrough, does things E Ink can't
Qualcomm's Mirasol display technology was supposedly inspired by butterfly wings, and its progress over the past year has been appropriately erratic. It was happening, then it wasn't, then it was again -- but only in the Korea-confined Kyobo e-Reader. Despite all the flitting about, however, some consistent promises have been made: a 'converged' screen that's like E Ink because it requires no backlight and lasts for "weeks" on a single charge, and like LCD in its ability to refresh quickly and handle color video. Thanks to Netbook News, we now have some eyes-on of the 5.7-inch, 1024 x 768 Kyobo in action, powered by a 1GHz single-core Snapdragon S2 and Android 2.3, and it's yours for the glimpsing right after the break. There's room for improvement, especially with color saturation, viewing angles and reflectiveness, but we're not quibbling -- this ₩349,000 ($310) device evidently lives up to its central claim.
BMW 3 Series gets 'full-color' heads-up display
If you've been hankering for some HUD action in your next auto, you'll have one more choice come next spring: the all-new 2012 BMW 3 Series. The launch will mark the first time a heads-up display has made it into Bavaria's volume seller, after debuting as an optional extra eons ago on its 5 Series. Since then, HUDs of limited hues have permeated München's high-end, splaying speed and navigation directions in the line of sight of road-going elites everywhere. However, this iteration is "full-color," which besides pleasing ROY G. BIV fans, makes it "more intuitive," as the company reasons it'll aid drivers in recognizing crucial alerts faster. That, or we're really just a generation away from über cool AR wizardry and movies on our windscreens. Of course, no word on when the 3's brethren will get the technicolor treatment, but we're betting it won't be long, given that's the dash of a 6 Series you see above. PR, per usual, is after the break.
Qualcomm lays down $1 billion for new Mirasol plant in Taiwan, catering small and medium devices
Good news, digital bookworms! After months of rumoring, Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs has just announced that Qualcomm will really be building a new Mirasol plant over there. Specifically, the $1 billion, seven-hectare factory will reside in the Hsinchu Longtan Science Park to mass-produce small and medium flavors of said transflective display, meaning the Snapdragon maker will, for the first time, be able to churn out something smaller than the current lone 5.7-inch model. Yep, those must be the low-power smartphone screens that Qualcomm talked about previously, which sure sound delicious. Now, what's up with our little Pixel Qi?
Hanvon to be first with color E Ink reader, sizes it at 10 inches, makes it a touchscreen
While Amazon and Sony are still hemming and hawing about taking their ebook-reading adventure into the color E Ink realm, China's Hanvon is plunging straight in. The New York Times is reporting that the company intends to grace this year's FPD International trade show with the news that a 10-inch touchscreen e-reader, equipped with the first color-displaying panels from E Ink Holdings, will be arriving in the Chinese market in March. That's a little later than the originally promised "by the end of 2010," but it's not like anyone else is beating Hanvon to the market. Pricing in China is expected at around $440, and though there are no plans to bring it Stateside just yet, we imagine Hanvon would do so quite willingly if it can reach the volume necessary to offer up a more palatable price. And we'd be very happy if it does, the Nook Color's been looking a little lonely in the color ebook reader room.
Mirasol displays slated for 'converged devices' in Q1 2011, followed by low-power smartphones
When we reported that the Mirasol low-power color displays were pushed back to early 2011, that wasn't technically correct -- Qualcomm just informed us that the company's cranking out panels even as we speak, and will ship them to OEMs this fall. So what's actually going to happen in Q1 2011? The formal release of Mirasol devices, of course. Representatives told us that the 5.7-inch, 220ppi XGA color display will appear in multiple products with multiple partners next year, and that they "will be in devices that are converged and look a lot more like a tablet PC than an e-reader." Following that, they said, the company will turn its attention to developing Mirasol for smartphones. We couldn't get Qualcomm to comment on a rumored $2b Mirasol plant, unfortunately, and there's no word on that color Kindle, but we imagine all will be revealed at or shortly after CES next year.
Qualcomm building a $2b Mirasol plant after winning 'major client'?
Well, if this isn't a statement of intent, we don't know what is. Those good old market sources are reporting today that Qualcomm has set aside a cool $2 billion to build a new Mirasol display production plant in Taiwan. The chipmaker already has a Mirasol facility in Longtan, a joint venture with Foxlink, but is said to be the sole investor in this new build. The whole thing has apparently been spurred on by a major client having "already started the design-in process" after seeing production samples of the 5.7-inch, low power, color display. We can't know for sure who that client may be, but Qualcomm's been doing some real heavy flirting with Amazon and all those overtures might (might!) finally have paid off. Of couse, as Jeff Bezos himself said, a color Kindle isn't likely to hit the market anytime soon, and this new factory isn't expected to begin volume production until 2012, but we'll take a slow and speculative roadmap over no roadmap at all.
