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E Ink exec sees e-newspapers going commercial in 2009
Yeah, quite a few rags out there have already diverted at least some of their efforts to the electronic press, but according to E Ink's Ryosuke Kuwata, the trend is set to explode in late 2009. Said VP, who is currently in charge of market development, admitted that some newspapers in Japan, America and Europe are all looking to make the move to e-paper in the not-too-distant future. He also stated that "verification tests" (trials, we presume) would be starting up "using several thousands of terminals by the end of 2008," and that the company would "gradually shift to a specific business in the second half of 2009." Reading the local headlines on e-paper, scooting to the market in a flying vessel and showing up to work by flipping on a hologram transmitter. Meatloaf always said two out of three wasn't bad.
Epson unveils ridiculously high resolution E Ink display
We've seen an A4-sized sheet of e-paper or two in our day, but Epson's new prototype display features an absurdly high resolution for its size: 3104 x 4128, clocking it in at something like 385ppi. According to Fareastgizmos, E Ink's supplying the, um, electronic ink, while Seiko Epson built out the low-temperature polycrystal Si-TFT glass substrate medium. Yeah, we've got a long ways to go before we'll all be reading the e-paper morning news on the way to work, but it can't be that long, can it?
E-Ink introduces new segmented display cell screens -- kind of like old school LCD
E-Ink has a new display made available last week, based on segmented display cell (SDC) technology. Apparently the new screens are 40% thinner and have increased flexibility over E Ink's previous displays, and can now be formed in "organic non-rectangular unique shapes, including holes, curves, and other non-standard designs". Delphi's already picking up use of the display for future keyfob products -- always good to know there are consumer applications right around the corner.[Thanks, Pat]
Epson and E Ink partner on controller IC for e-paper displays
Epson and E Ink, two mainstays in the electronic paper realm, have pooled their resources in order to develop an all new display controller IC set to enable "faster navigation, multitasking and real-time pen / keyboard input." The S1D13521 chip is slated to be used in E Ink's Vizplex-enabled electronic paper displays (EPDs), and it'll also be making an appearance in said company's forthcoming AM300 Broadsheet prototype kit (pictured). In layman's terms, this device should speed up the user interface considerably, as it will enable the display to "perform up to 16 tasks in parallel and support smooth and responsive pen input devices for annotations and sketches." As for availability, we're seeing that samples ($18 apiece) should make their way out next month, while production quantities won't be able to scamper free until August.[Thanks, Jack]
Netronix unveils 6-inch EB-100 and 9.7-inch EB-300 e-books
If you hadn't heard, 9.7-inch e-ink displays are the new hotness, and now Netronix is getting in on the action with the EB-300. Netronix is part-owned by PVI, a major manufacturer of e-ink displays, and they seem to be putting them to good use here. The EB-300 has a 1200 x 825, 170 dpi, 4 grayscale screen, and measures a mere 14mm (0.55-inches) thick. There's 4GB of NAND storage on board, along with 64MB of SDRAM and some SD card expansion. There's also WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity for good measure. EB-300 runs Windows CE 5.0, while little brother EB-100 runs Linux and a 6-inch 800 x 600 screen -- and loses most of the other connectivity and storage perks as well. No word on price or availability for either of these.[Via MobileRead]
E-book concept combines leather and multi-touch
It's likely that the Kindle's popularity is going to spawn a whole slew of e-books vying for the eyes of readers. A concept from a student named Nedzad Mujcinovic at Monash University could very well stoke the fires of competition if his Livre ever makes it to store shelves. The system uses an e-ink screen overlaid with a touch surface, thus forgoing the multitudinous buttons of the Kindle for an ultra-simple, gesture-based input scheme. Pages can be turned by sliding your finger from corner to corner, though double- and triple-finger gestures will advance the book by ten and 50 pages, respectively. Most notable for real book fans is the inclusion of a leather stitched cover, meant to evoke the look and feel of the device's analog counterpart. Amazon's designers would be wise to, uh... take a page from Nedzad's book for the Kindle 2.[Thanks, Nick B.]
Hands-on with Polymer Vision's e-ink Readius
The long wait is over, the Polymer Vision Readius has finally made an appearance and from our quick -- and loving -- glance, it's the stuff. Featuring Bluetooth, dual-band HSDPA, tri-band GSM / EDGE, expandability via microSD, and it'll also SMS -- albeit, without a keyboard, it'll be tough -- and can make calls. The cellular calling and messaging features are likely an afterthought since connectivity to get at the content via the Readius portal was the goal. The site will push content to your device based on choices made there for feeds, newspapers, mags, audio books, and whatever else Polymer Vision sees fit to add. The device will support books in HTML, text files, and PDFs, though, we expect as they gain ground with partners the list may expand. Hit the gallery at Engadget Mobile for a pile of pics of it in action.
Polymer Vision's Readius e-ink phone coming mid-2008 to Italy
It seemed obvious back in mid-December of last year that Polymer Vision wasn't going to nail its timetable for production versions of the 3G-equipped, e-ink wonder known as the Readius. Now word is that the company will have a commercial version of the phone / e-book reader available sometime in mid-2008 in Italy via Telecom Italia -- provided that everything goes according to its diabolical plans. If you'll recall, the device features a foldable, grayscale, 5-inch QVGA display, and boasts a slew of features, including HSDPA, a 400MHz ARM CPU, and a battery life up to "six times longer" than current mobile phones. We'll admit we're intrigued, but don't make us wait too long over here, okay?
Reminder: Phosphor E Ink watch giveaways almost closed!
We know you want to be the envy of all your friends and colleagues by sporting one of the trio of Phosphor e-ink watches we're giving away, so if you haven't entered already, consider this a friendly reminder that the clock is ticking on all three contests. Entering is as easy as leaving a comment, so just make sure to read the rules and then throw your hat into the ring. Reminder: You can only enter once per giveaway (up to three times total).Read - Phosphor E Ink watch giveaway (part 1), closes tonightRead - Phosphor E Ink watch giveaway (part 2), closes Thursday nightRead - Phosphor E Ink watch giveaway (part 3), closes Friday night
Phosphor E Ink watch giveaway (part 3)
Yeah, we've got three Phosphor watches to giveaway this week, and today we're putting the last one up for grabs. No longer do you need to be an executive at E Ink Corp to get an electrophoretic display in your classy analog timepiece -- you just need to enter our contests (or pony up $250 of your own cash to guarantee it). Sexy hands-on shots below (which, ironically, do not really depict the watch on or even near our unworthy hands). Oh, and don't forget the rules. (Yeah, there are always rules.) Leave a comment below. How about you tell us what your current timepiece is? There's no wrong answer. You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) But you CAN try your luck at the other two watches, just know that you can't win twice. If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine. Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad. Winners will be chosen randomly. One winner per giveaway (as if that wasn't obvious). Each will receive a Phosphor watch ($250 US). Entries can be submitted until Friday, December 28th, 11:59PM EDT. Good luck! Full rules can be found here. Just in case you missed Monday's or yesterday's contest, here you go.%Gallery-12031%
Phosphor E Ink watch giveaway (part 2)
Yeah, we've got three Phosphor watches to giveaway this week -- one per day until tomorrow (that'd be Friday, which breaks down to two leather bands, one poly). No longer do you need to be an executive at E Ink Corp to get an electrophoretic display in your classy analog timepiece -- you just need to enter our contests (or pony up $250 of your own cash to guarantee it). Sexy hands-on shots below (which, ironically, do not really depict the watch on or even near our unworthy hands). Oh, and don't forget the rules. (Yeah, there are always rules.) Leave a comment below. How about you tell us what your current timepiece is? There's no wrong answer. You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) But you CAN try your luck at the other two watches, just know that you can't win twice. If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine. Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad. Winners will be chosen randomly. One winner per giveaway (as if that wasn't obvious). Each will receive a Phosphor watch ($250 US). Entries can be submitted until Thursday, December 27th, 11:59PM EDT. Good luck! Full rules can be found here. Just in case you missed yesterday's contest, here you go. %Gallery-12031%
Phosphor starts selling E Ink watches
You may remember that super rare E Ink watch we gave away a while back -- the company only handbuilt nine of 'em, and we were lucky enough to get our hands on one. Well, it looks like the club is about to get a little bigger: Phosphor is now selling two models of watch with the same E Ink display for $250, one with a leather band and one with a polyurethane band. Just like the originals, the watch can switch from white-on-black to black-on-white, and also displays the time, date, or just the E Ink logo on its face. Oh -- you know we're totally giving another one these away later on, so check back in a couple hours tomorrow for your chance to score one.
Polymer Vision announces rollable displays are in production
We've been looking at wacky prototypes of rollable displays for so long that it's hard to believe they could ever get real. Polymer Vision, a Philips spin out, has just announced that it has its production facilities up and running and its first rollable displays have made it off the assembly line. And they're not leaving it at that. Polymer Vision's first product, the 3G-enabled Readius, is supposed to be available before the end of the year. That doesn't give them much time to slap the rest of the parts together, but hopefully the Readius can be giving Kindle some competition before we get too terribly accustomed to its DRM-ed ways.
FujiXerox shows off color e-ink display with writing capabilities
We've only seen a couple prototype color e-ink displays here and there, but this latest version from FujiXerox seems like its the furthest along in terms of refresh rate and usability. The A6 sized panel is made of three polymer-dispersed liquid-crystal layers, but it's still flexible, at just .4mm thick. No hard specs, really, but Tech-On says refresh time is less than one second -- just quick enough to make this viable for the next-gen Kindle, eh?[Via Tech-On!]
Seiko Epson shows off UXGA e-paper display
Those fortunate enough to traverse the halls of Embedded Technology 2007 could've seen Seiko Epson's latest wonder up close and in person, but for the rest of us, we'll have to settle for the above picture and a drool-worthy description. The prototype e-paper terminal measures in at just 3-millimeters thick and weighs only 57-grams, and it's even equipped with a USB port. Furthermore, it features a 6.7-inch display with a luscious 1,600 x 1,200 resolution, but the unit on display could only handle grayscale imagery. Also of note, the entire unit was powered by a single button cell battery, which enabled the screen to be redrawn upwards of 1,400 times (at 0.7-seconds per redraw) before running out of juice. Details surrounding its eventual commercialization were pretty much par for the course, meaning your guess is as good as ours at this point. Two more snapshots after the jump.[Via Technabob]
Cybook Gen3 e-book reader on sale now for $350
Those sitting tight for Cybook's Gen3 e-book reader can finally do something other than just wait for it. That's right, Bookeen's latest is finally on sale, and just as promised (the second time, that is), it's available now (read: in October) for $350. If you're wondering what all that coin will get you, you can look forward to 8,000 page flips without a recharge, a daylight-readable 800 x 600 resolution display, 2.5-millimeter stereo headphone jack, 64MB of storage, an SD expansion slot and USB connectivity. So go on, bust out that credit card and count down the minutes till it arrives on your doorstep.[Via Teleread]
E Ink shows off front-lit, flexible e-paper displays
E Ink Corp looks to have rolled into this week's FPD International show with a fair bit of new paper-replacing gear, including a number of prototypes that it's developed with some of its partner firms. In addition to the E Ink watch we've seen before (and given away), the company showed off a new front-lit e-paper display developed by Alps Electric, which promises to let you get in some paper-less reading even in complete darkness. Also on display was a 9.7-inch e-paper display with an integrated flexible TFT substrate although, judging from the picture after the break courtesy of Tech-On, it doesn't appear to be completely flexible. It does boast a decent 1200 x 820 resolution, however, and it should actually be available relatively soon, with mass production reportedly set to get underway in the second quarter of 2008.
Prototype mobile showcases e-ink keypad
An e-ink primary display on a cellphone? Eh, that's so 2006. On display at Japan's CEATEC show this week is a prototype clamshell that flips the concept on its head, moving the e-ink down below. The benefits are pretty obvious -- different keypad configurations can be shown in different phone modes, a tactic that's been explored before -- but unlike phones that use OLED or LCD displays, e-ink only requires power when it's being changed, so you get the combined benefit of configurable keys while consuming virtually no additional energy over a standard layout. Combine the concept with physical ridges between keys and we figure this could be a pretty killer setup since you wouldn't be losing tactile feedback, either. We see a good fifteen or twenty concept phones for every device that actually sees production, but since some folks bothered to throw together a physical prototype here, we're cautiously optimistic this thing might see the light of day.[Via Ubergizmo]
Opalux set to commercialize "P-Ink" e-paper technology
It's getting tough to tell e-ink technologies apart from each other these days, but Toronto-based Opalux is hoping that its new system has what it takes to stand out from the pack, and it's apparently already well on its way to commercializing it. The secret ingredient here, according to MIT's Technology Review, are photonic crystals made out of silica beads, which measure a mere 200 nanometers across and are embedded in a spongy electroactive polymer sandwiched between transparent electrodes. The crystals can then be made to reflect varying wavelengths of light by altering their spacing, letting the pixel reflect any color in the visible spectrum. That, according to the company, allows the "P-Ink" display to pump out colors three times brighter than other displays, which rely on groups of three pixels to display different colors. While the technology is still relatively new, the company says it expects to see it used in products within two years, with advertising displays a likely first candidate.
E Ink watch giveaway winner!
We know you've been waiting patiently to find out who won the super rare E Ink watch -- congratulations to Chris Garman, who's now the luckiest watch-wearer on his block! To everyone else who gave it a shot, thanks for entering. Oh, and stick close, we'll have another super rare giveaway shortly.
