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E Ink shows off a foldable e-reader prototype you can take notes on
It has a huge 10.3-inch screen, which could be great for digital newspapers.
Lenovo's ThinkBook Plus is a laptop that doubles as a Kindle
It wouldn't be CES if Lenovo didn't have a bevy of new laptops to announce, but I can't say we saw the company's new ThinkBook Plus coming. It's available with a 13.3-inch matte, full HD IPS display, one USB-C Gen 2 port, a pair of full-size USBs and an HDMI-out. And since this isn't a one-size-fits-all sort of machine, you can configure it with up to a 10th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, either 8GB or 16GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of onboard storage. (Sorry, folks, no discrete graphics here.)
Fossil's latest hybrid watch is likely powered by Wear OS
Back in January Google announced its plans to buy Fossil's smartwatch technology. Now, after a report by Wareable revealed that the deal involved the acquisition of the movements used in hybrid watches, we have our first clue as to what Google might be planning.
Barnes & Noble isn't ready to give up on the E-Ink Nook
Just in time for beach reading, Barnes & Noble is releasing a new Nook with a 7.8-inch screen and waterproof design. The new GlowLight Plus has the company's largest E-Ink screen to date, and as with past models users can choose between a cool white light or warmer, orange-toned glow. It has the same "soft touch finish," page-turning buttons on the left and right and 8 GB of storage.
Sony's FES team and New Balance made an e-paper sneaker
The FES Watch was an e-paper fashion accessory borne out of Sony's interesting idea incubator, First Flight. It was one of the earliest products to make it onto Sony's domestic crowdfunding platform, and it was successful enough to warrant a second-generation product, the more intricate FES Watch U. It's rare to see the e-paper timepieces outside of Japan, but the FES team are here at Sony's IFA booth with a new concept product: A sneaker with e-ink soles and side detailing created in collaboration with New Balance.
Lenovo's new Yoga Book replaces the keyboard with an e-ink screen
Last year, Lenovo surprised us with a novel concept. What if there was a laptop the size of a tablet with a touch-sensitive surface in place of a keyboard? That notion birthed the Yoga Book, a tablet-digitizer hybrid that had a 10-inch display on one side and a smooth, flat surface facing it. Long story short, we were excited about the premise, but ultimately disappointed by the terrible typing experience on what the company called its Halo keyboard.
Fiske’s Reading Machine was a pre-silicon Kindle
E-readers have become one of the most pervasive pieces of tech for many reasons. They survive alongside tablets because they're accessible -- Amazon's entry-level Kindle is just $80 -- and don't require daily charging. E-ink displays don't strain your eyes nearly as much as backlit screens, nor do they keep you up at night. Above all else, though, they can hold the entire works of Shakespeare countless times over while being thinner and lighter than any paperback. But this idea of portability, of condensing the written word into a format only a device can understand, is older than The Great Gatsby. It can be traced back to the early 1920s, and the invention of the Fiske Reading Machine.
The Nook GlowLight 3 is better suited for night-time reading
The battle of competing e-readers has all been won by Amazon's Kindle line of products, but there still manage to be a few sorties here and there from the sidelines. Kobo just announced a more capacious Aura reader, and now Barnes and Noble is actually trying one more time with a new version of its E Ink Nook reader, the $120 GlowLight 3, available for pre-order now and for purchase in stores on November 8th.
This e-paper backpack is the kind of crazy we deserve
Just to be clear, this is exactly what you think it is: a backpack with a hole cut in it, and an e-paper display wedged inside. And yes, that e-paper display has my face on it. Normally, this is the time when I'd start talking about hitting peak CES absurdity, but POP-I president Vikram Joshi has more in store than just these rough early models.
QuirkLogic's Quilla is a massive 42-inch E Ink whiteboard
Canada's QuirkLogic wants to see an end to people taking pictures of their whiteboard notes with a smartphone. That's why it's launching the Quilla, a 42-inch smart whiteboard that's built around the world's largest electronic-paper display. Paired with QuirkLogic's connected-writer system, anything you draw on the display with the stylus will be instantly stored for retrieval later.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 11: Everybody Hurts
Managing editor Dana Wollman and senior editor Mona Lalwani join host Terrence O'Brien to talk Macbook rumors, Amazon ISP ambitions and Julian Assange. Then they'll talk about all the work that went into Engadget's five part series covering the world's first cyborg games, Superhumans and look at VR's ability generate empathy.
The Calendar Watch previews your schedule at a glance
Last year, What Watch introduced its Stop the Time watch, which offered a minimalistic flourish of smart technology on top of a classic wrist-worn timepiece. The idea was to purposely limit the feature set, freeing users from data overload through a conceptual design. With the press of a single-use button, you could mark up to five "moments" each month, which lit up elements on the watch's e-ink display. This month, the company is back with another technologically restrained wearable, the Calendar Watch. It still avoids data overload by keeping things simple: You can look at the time and also see your schedule at a glance. The product just launched on Kickstarter, but we got a chance to speak with What Watch co-founder Igor Basargin and take a look at the first batch of prototypes. They won't help you track steps or control a playlist, but the pie-wedge schedule view seems a useful addition to a pretty decent-looking watch.
ICYMI: E-paper kicks, robot directions via thought and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-978000{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-978000, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-978000{width:570px;display:block;}try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-978000").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Shiftwear wants to change your shoe game with color e-paper screens that can move and shift into beautiful pictures on the sneakers you're wearing. It's too early to tell whether they will fund; or look as good as they do in the online video. There's also a nail-art printer if you're in the mood to spend a lot of money on something temporary.
Waterstones stops selling Amazon Kindles over 'pitiful' sales
Waterstones, the UK's largest book retailer, surprised many when it put plans for its own e-reader on ice to start selling Amazon's range of Kindle readers. It's been more than three years since it began making extra space in stores for one of its biggest rivals, but it won't for much longer. The Bookseller reports that the company will remove Amazon's e-ink Kindles from most of its locations as sales "continue to be pitiful."
Microsoft's prototype keyboard cover has an e-ink touchscreen
Tablets are becoming more useful for getting real work done. Looking to further bridge the gap between slate and laptop, Microsoft Applied Sciences built a prototype device it calls the DisplayCover: a keyboard cover that houses an e-ink touchscreen display. The 1,280 x 305 resolution panel not only provides access to app shortcuts, but it can also handle touch gestures for navigation and accept stylus input. The stylus feature seems to make things like signing documents and scribbling notes a breeze, based on the demo video. In the case of an app like Photoshop where you need constant access to tool palettes, those items can be parked at the top of the keyboard so they don't take up valuable space on the tablet's display (in this case a Surface).
YotaPhone 2's US launch canceled after crowdfunding success
We sort of loved the dual-screened YotaPhone 2, and we weren't alone -- nearly 450 people ordered devices from the company's Indiegogo campaign earlier this month, and a few of them are going to be very disappointed. In an email (obtained by The Verge) fired off to backers earlier this morning, Yota Devices cancelled the phone's US launch entirely thanks to "unforeseen delays including both production and delivery of the North American variant of YotaPhone 2 from our manufacturer."
Sydney gets world's first e-ink traffic signs
Sydney is now using the world's first outdoor e-ink traffic signs to guide motorists during special events. The city's Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) agency was apparently fed up with the constant chore of changing signs, and developed the tech with a company called Visionect. Like your Kindle, the signs are easy to read in Sydney's bright sunshine, which also powers it via solar panels. There's a light for nighttime usage, and the messages can be updated remotely via a cell connection to an "internet of things" network.
Sainsbury's swaps pricing labels for e-ink displays in one London store
Considering their main role is supplying the everyday essentials, Britain's supermarkets are strangely into their tech. When they're not running streaming services (or offloading them), making tablets, dabbling in prototype wearable apps and trying to improve the customer experience, they're looking at ways to work more efficiently. Sainsbury's latest tech trial falls into that latter category, and sees pricing labels at the Shoreditch Old Street Local store in the trendy part of London swapped out for miniature, colour e-ink displays. This saves on paper, of course, but more importantly, some poor new starter no longer needs to spend Sunday afternoon trudging the aisles updating the two-for-one deals. Instead, prices are changed automatically and wirelessly.
Lenovo's E Ink fitness band is amazingly affordable for its looks
Yes, 'tis yet another fitness band featuring a curved E Ink screen, but Lenovo's Vibe Band VB10 is a much better looker than Sony's offering from four months ago. First of all, the main body here is actually wrapped in metal -- either black, gold or white -- to give it a more premium feel, but together with the rubberized strap, the VB10 weighs just around 30 grams, so you may easily forget that you're wearing it. And since it's an E Ink screen, Lenovo claims that you can get up to seven days of battery on a single charge, while the device continuously monitors your steps, calories, travel distance and sleep quality. Oh, and you also get notifications from your phone -- via Bluetooth LE -- on that handy always-on screen. Want one? Too bad, as this $89 waterproof smartband won't be coming to the US when it launches this April. Still, you might get lucky with an e-tailer that ships globally.
Sony was hiding its e-paper watch in plain sight all along
You know those cartoons where the culprit was revealed to be Old Mr. Jones, the Caretaker, all along? It turns out that Sony's been pulling the same trick concerning Fashion Entertainments' e-paper watch. The story goes that the company wanted to create innovative new products, but without the weight of expectation (or, possibly, dread) that goes with the Sony name. According to the Wall Street Journal, FES' plan is to combine the company's e-paper know-how with fashionable accessories, including the watch and customizable bow ties. Admittedly, the idea of an e-paper bow tie that you can somehow alter with a digital device sounds like the sort of thing you'd buy from Brookstone, so we hope Kaz Hirai knows how to make it cool.