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Samsung shows off color e-paper prototype, PVI might beat it to market in 2010
Now here's some yummy news to wrap our minds around. Samsung, a company with a manufacturing portfolio so wide that you wouldn't be surprised to see it selling toothbrushes and perfume, clearly also wants a slice of that growing ebook market and has now unveiled a 10.1-inch color display with that purpose in mind. It's still very early days, with a measly 10:1 contrast ratio and the ability to display only 7% of the NTSC color gamut, but baby steps are better than no steps, right? While Sammy is shooting at delivering this within two years, PVI -- the maker of displays for Kindles and Sony Readers -- is expected to ramp up production of its own color screens in the second half of 2010. Add these two heavyweights to the color e-readers already expected from Plastic Logic (spring 2010) and Bridgestone, and what you get is one hell of a thriving marketplace -- as long as Pixel Qi doesn't render them all useless when it launches later this year. Read - Samsung Exhibits 10.1-inch Color E-paper Read - PVI to ramp up flexible and color EPD in 2010
Bridgestone announces flexible touchscreen color e-reader
When we heard word of a "big announcement" back in July we imagined an e-reader of some sort, but what is it that we have here? Based on a technology Bridgestone calls Quick-response Liquid Powder, the company's all-color touchscreen e-book reader is about 5.8mm thick, features a 13.1-inch touch-sensitive e-paper display (with 4,096 colors and a refresh rate of about 0.8 seconds), and some sort of unspecified mobile phone connectivity. Most exciting, of course, is that the entire package -- circuit board, touchscreen, and housing -- are designed to bend together. A neat trick, sure, but probably not too practical for jotting down notes with your stylus. Still, we'd take two. Trials begin at the Kansai Urban Banking Corp early next year, but you can check it out sooner at FPD International 2009 in Yokohama City, Japan, starting tomorrow. [Via Tech-On]
AUO demonstrates 6-inch flexible electronic paper, pledges production for next year
If e-paper is ever really going to have a chance against tree-paper it's going to have to get a lot more flexible. We've seen multiple demonstrations of bendable wares from LG and even big daddy E Ink, but AUO is the first to pledge mass production of the stuff (since the Readius went bust), starting in 2010. The company has demonstrated a 6-inch flexible display offering 16 shades of gray and a contrast ratio of 9:1, which sounds terrible but is actually slightly better than the Kindle's 7:1. The company is also showing off a 20-inch non-bendy version that should also hit production sometime next year. When will either get the hammer treatment? That remains to be seen.
AUO aims for $100 e-book readers by 2011
E-book readers have certainly been getting better and cheaper lately, but it looks like display-maker AUO thinks there's still plenty of room for improvement, and it's now promising to cut the price of 'em fully in half within two years. The key to that, obviously, is to make the displays cheaper, which AUO says it can do by not only improving the technology, but by taking advantage of the sheer scale of its production capabilities. That, it says, could allow for a $150 e-book reader by next year, and a $100 reader by 2011. What's more, AUO also says that it expects both Amazon and Sony to get "some" of their displays from AUO (with the rest coming from industry leader Prime View) which, if you put two and two together, could pave the way for some cheaper Kindles and Sony Readers in the not too distant future.
Neolux badges bring e-ink technology to trade show vendors, sweaty rock dudes
Ah, the backstage pass -- as much a part of the rock'n'roll lifestyle as sleeping with a roadie to get to the lead singer. Now, thanks to Neolux (an e-ink developer best known in these parts for its rather bland e-reader) the things have gotten that much harder to counterfeit. What does an e-ink badge do, exactly? Well, it does what a regular badge does -- with the added expense of color e-ink technology. How's that for progress? See for yourself after the break. Update: ...and by "color e-ink" we meant "regular old e-ink with a red overlay." Oldest trick in the book, really. Thanks to those of you who pointed it out! [Via E-ink Info]
China Mobile to offer subsidized e-ink reader
We don't know how well a subsidized e-reader would fly in the States, but it looks like we're soon to find out how well it does in China. The AirPaper50T e-book reader sports a 6-inch (800 x 600) e-ink display up top, another 3.7-inch display below for navigation (we guess), and allows you to purchase books for between 3 and 5 yuan (between $0.43 and $1.02) from China Mobile's store, over its TD-SCDMA and GSM networks. This bad boy also sports a USB interface for transferring files from our PC (which is good, 'cos it has no WiFi) and a SIM card slot, and a single charge can last some 30,000 page views or sit in standby mode for 7 days. Let us know how this one works out for you, eh?%Gallery-72482%[Via Engadget Chinese]
SiPix to debut color e-paper next year?
SiPix (a division of our old friend AU Optronics) has announced that it will bring "a small number" of color e-ink displays to market by the end of 2010. Apparently, a breakthrough in thin-film-transistor panels has put the company on the fast-track to making this technology commercially viable. If so, it could beat rivals like PrimeView (the manufacturer of both the Kindle and Sony's Reader) to the punch by a year or two. "Making colored electronic paper displays is our top priority," said SiPix president Andrew Tseng. "We are in talks with customers to supply colored displays ... as [color] would encourage advertisers to place ads on [electronic] publications, which then would be able to provide more content [to readers] for free." While PrimeView is currently scrambling to buy up US-based E Ink, AU Optronics is scheduled to ship its first e-paper display modules to customers this quarter. The ball's in your court, Fujitsu. [Via TG Daily]
Switched On: Sony plays both ends against the Kindle
Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Last week, Sony introduced Reader Daily Edition, the latest and most advanced Reader in its 2009 lineup, and attempted to recapture the excitement around the category that it had at the launch of the original Reader but then gave up to Amazon. By adding 3G connectivity to the Daily Edition, Sony's answered the biggest perceived feature gap between its products and Amazon's e-reader. However, far from playing me-too, the Daily Edition tells quite a different distribution story than the Kindle, from purchasing devices to the content. The $400 Daily Edition (a term that warmly evokes printed books and newspapers without being corny) will join the $300 Touch Edition and the $200 Pocket Edition. Of these, the Pocket Edition has the most near-term potential for success due to its greater portability and low price, particularly in these grim economic times. Speaking of which, Sony seems to have picked up more positive buzz about its library integration for free book lending than it has for adding wireless to the line. For all the struggles of subscription services, consumers don't have any problems with renting content as long as it's free.
Bridgestone set to make major push into e-paper business
Bridgestone's already showed off some fairly impressive e-paper displays, and gone into mass production with displays for inventory tags and whatnot, but it now looks like the company is now set to make its biggest push into the market yet. According to Tech-On, Bridgestone will be announcing details of its plans in July or August, but it appears that the announcement will concern e-paper displays for e-book readers, at least one of which will be A4 in size. That particular screen was making the rounds of exhibitions back in April, and makes use of the company's proprietary "electron powder and granular material" which, among other things, lets the screen rewrite in just 0.8 seconds. Of course, there's no word on any actual devices using the e-paper just yet, but we're hoping that'll be among the details announced in the next month or so.
Samsung shows off video-capable e-paper prototype
E-paper displays capable of playing video aren't exactly a completely new development, but Samsung seems to be particularly proud of its latest prototype, which makes use of some new, slightly mysterious technology to let you switch between e-paper and video modes. That's apparently possible in part thanks to an active matrix panel that uses "a kind of cholesteric liquid crystal" which, oddly enough, has so far been primarily used in displays on flash drives. Given that history, the 10.2-inch panel itself is expectedly a little lackluster when it comes to the core specs, with it packing a mere 320 x 240 resolution, 64 colors, and a response time of 25 ms "or less." Of course, it is still just a prototype, and Samsung seems confident that it'll be able to make the necessary improvements before it tuns into an actual product.
LG Display showcases 11.5-inch flexible e-paper
We're still years away from commercialized color variants, but LG Display is proving that bigger ain't really a thang. In fact, it recently showcased an 11.5-inch sheet of flexible e-paper at SID 2009, which could obviously be used in the Kindle XXL. Sadly, few (and by few, we mean none) details were given regarding an eventual launch date, but hey, at least it's around, right?[Via OLED-Display]
Electrofluidic display tech improves color e-ink, makes you sound smarter
The race to develop a mass-market color e-ink display is at fever pitch, and there's a new challenger on the scene: electrofluidic display, or EFD. Developed at the University of Cincinnati in partnership with a handful of private companies, the new tech apparently blows everything else out of the water -- according to professor Jason Heikenfeld, EFD has superior brightness, color saturation, and video speed, all in a 15-micron thick panel that can eventually be used in rollable displays. No word on when we'll see any products, but the partnership is spinning off a new company called Gamma Dynamics to commercialize the tech, so hopefully it'll be soon.[Thanks, Wendy]Read - University of Cincinnati press releaseRead - EFD paper in Nature
Bridgestone's 13-inch color e-paper display handles pen input, has the future written all over it
While it'll always be difficult to accept innovative technology from a company that makes our tires, there's just no faulting Bridgestone's work in the e-paper space, or their latest color entry, above. The 13-inch display, based on "QR-LPD" tech, has what looks to be great color depth, along with snappy 0.8 second screen refreshes (great for this screen size) and actual Wacom-based pen input. There's video of it in action after the break, and if we didn't know better we'd think they were putting a Sharpie to a perfectly good display. Unfortunately, the image does look a little dim at the moment, so hopefully that's something Bridgestone can improve upon as they approach commercialization -- whenever that might be.
Ricoh develops brighter, lighter, color e-paper
It's been a few minutes since we've heard any news regarding color e-paper, and now Ricoh has announced that they've taken a tip from their copier business to create a technology that displays hues fifty percent brighter than those currently available, retaining the graphics even when power is turned off. Unlike other technologies, which use layers of red, green, and blue light separated by sheets of glass, this new iteration uses layered electrochromic compounds that turn cyan, magenta, and yellow variously when electricity is applied -- and if that weren't enough, the company's gone and altered the molecular structure of the compounds to retain their color even when electricity is removed. Rather than using glass, the layers are separated by some sort of clear insulation, resulting in a lighter device and a brighter appearance. The company is looking to bring this to market within the next five years. [Warning: read link requires subscription.]
Fujitsu tests e-newspapers at Japanese cafe
We've already seen restaurants with touch-sensitive tables and 3D menus, so it's just natural for Fujitsu to explore the possibility of installing e-newspapers into popular cafes. The outfit is working with SoftBank and Mainichi Newspapers in order to test the feasibility of placing e-readers in certain eateries, which would allow patrons to check up on the day's latest headlines while waiting for their coffee and eggs. As expected, the companies are closely monitoring whether the idea would promote sales and boost customer satisfaction, and unless they do something horribly wrong, we can't see this not having those effects. In order to make ends meet, the terminals will flash advertisements if the reader sits for an extended period of time, though they should shy away once a customer starts fiddling. If you're eager to check things out, hop a flight to Japan and have a sit at Termina Kinshicho Fujiya Restaurant before February 13th.
Giant e-paper display spotted, ogled at Taiwanese book show
Now showing at a Taiwanese book expo: two gorgeous e-paper displays, one in black-and-white and one in color. The approximately 24-inch readers were created by Delta Electronics (no relation to the airliner) and are being used by a local newspaper publisher to survey attendees and gauge interest in their future use. Our friends at Engadget Chinese tell us the color one is less contrasty than its monochrome partner, but beyond that, details are scarce and no one at the booth could provide any specs. One thing's for certain: they're a helluva lot crisper than those 28-inch e-paper billboards popping up around Tokyo. Hit up the read link for more pics.
E-paper signs being tested in Tokyo for disaster prevention
While we're still waiting for our electronic broadsheet (hell, we'll settle for a tabloid) it looks like folks in Toshima will be seeing quite a bit of the e-paper as they hit the streets of this Tokyo ward. In a test conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the signage has been installed in the proximity of the Toshima Life and Industry Plaza, where a wireless network was established to provide updates in case of an emergency. There are currently two signs: one in the lobby of the post office measures over three meters across and sports 240 x 768 resolution (the paper has 4mm pixels), and holds down power consumption at about 24W. Stationed at the Higashi-Ikebukuro bus stop, the second sign is 60 x 40 centimeters with 144 x 96 resolution, and power consumption here is about 9W. The test will run until January 29th, after which point the city will have to rely upon its usual civil defense repertoire -- which is believed to include the vigilant eye of Honda's 49-foot ASIMO.
Plastic Logic e-reader not coming until early 2010
If you've been waiting (and waiting) for Plastic Logic's ultra-durable e-reader, you'll have to stick with recycled paper for another dozen months or so. According to a company representative at the outfit's CES kiosk, the device is now scheduled for an "early 2010" release, and as expected, final pricing has yet to be determined. Though, Mr. Joe (seriously, that's his first name) did admit that it would be "competitively priced for rapid adoption" and that the company would be pushing hard to get this into corporations / enterprises. Don't believe us? The full five minute interview is there in the read link.[Thanks, credo]
HP and ASU demo bendable, unbreakable electronic displays
Well, what do you know? Nearly four years after Arizona State University opened its very own flexible display center comes this, a prototype device that's purportedly easy to manufactur, easy on the environment and practically as strong as Thor. HP and ASU have teamed up to demonstrate the fresh e-displays, which are constructed almost entirely of plastic and consume far less power than traditional computer monitors. The "unbreakable displays" were crafted using self-aligned imprint lithography (SAIL) technology invented in HP Labs, and while we'd love to see this in a pliable laptop at CES 2009, we suspect it'll be a few years yet before these slither out to the commercial realm.Update: HP Labs pinged us with this tidbit on the image above. "This image from the Flexible Display Center at ASU represents what the flexible display, a paper-like computer display made entirely of plastic, could look like in the future."
Pixel Qi conjuring up black magic technology for 40-hour laptops
Sure, you can go out and get yourself a laptop right now that'll go 12.5-hours strong, but what if your portable computer could nearly outlast your Aigo A215? While L's mythical quad core lappie came close in theory, Mary Lou Jepsen's (the former CTO at OLPC) startup is hoping to eventually create a machine that can last between 20 and 40-hours between charges. Pixel Qi is being pretty closelipped right now (and understandably so) about what exactly it has going on, but we get the idea the secret sauce is in a highly efficient display that will require far less power than traditional LCDs. The best part? We could see one of these longevous notebooks in the pipeline as early as 2H 2009, so we'd probably start stocking up on Red Bull right about now.
