Large-screened E Ink devices have been tried by many companies in the past but none managed to gain ground on the academic market. Sony is also not a new player, but they are still trying their luck. Their latest product is a 13.3-inch flexible E Ink prototype device which is targeted at students and offices.

The device is coming with the new Mobius e-paper display technology with lightweight, shatterproof or rugged characteristics. With this new tech, Sony can make bigger display sizes without making the reader too heavy.

The slate measures in at 233 x 310 x 6.8 mm and weighs just 358 g, and it’s coming with 4GB of on-board storage (with a microSD slot) and a 1200 x 1600 resolution screen that’s an electromagnetic induction touchscreen, which allows you to do page swipes and menu selection. It also supports stylus input for making notes. And there’s WiFi for sharing notes, and its rechargeable battery is said to last for three weeks (with the wireless tech turned off), but the device currently supports only the PDF file format.

The device will be trialed at three Japanese universities, after which the final product will be available on the market but that might take a year or more.

But the question is whether this device will be appealing since there are many tablets out there with fast processors and high-resolution screens, as well as third-party apps. Sony’s own Tablet Z is one of the many options currently available. But if the price is not too much (the Sony Reader PRS-T2 costs $129.99), this new e-reader could be useful for many.

[Source]

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Japan Display Inc., a merger of Toshiba’s, Sony’s and Hitachi’s small LCD businesses have worked with the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan to create a low-power color display that works similarly to an E-ink kindle device.

Rather than using a backlit display like most traditional LCDs, the new reflective LCD display panels by Japan Display Inc. use an external light source to show clear images to the viewer, but what makes it special is its ability to play full HD color video.

Three components make up the display; a rear reflective layer and a front light control layer which hold together the liquid crystal layer. All three parts are used together to help display the images on the LCD panel. When light is reflected from the rear electrode, it passes through the crystal layer, which will create a single-shaded image, which will then be filtered by the light control layer to show color.

So how is this like paper? The technology itself can be extremely easy to view in highly lighted conditions like outside on a sunny day, or in a lit house similarly to older Kindle models, but unlike Kindle, the LCD display shows crisp paper-like colors.

There are currently two different models in development by Japan Display Inc., of which one is nearing completion, and it won’t be long before the technology is ready for mass production.

Both models have slightly different reflection rates and different pixel ratios, with the near-completed model boasting 768×1044 pixels, and the second model displaying 576×1024 pixels on the screen.

What makes the new tech even more unique is it’s impressive battery-saving qualities when displaying still images; power consumption is kept to around 3 mW when showing static images because of the displays ability to retain data once it has been written.

I don’t know what you think of Japan Display Incs.’ work, but to me this technology is almost like a super-advanced Etch-A-Sketch.

Do you think the reflective displays could become a standard for LCD manufacturers in the near future?

[Source]

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Many people have turned to their tablets for their e-book reading needs, but the fact of the matter is that an e-ink display is still easier on the eyes. And now you can score a tremendous deal on one of the best e-ink e-book readers out there. Amazon has put the Kindle DX on sale for $110 off.

As a quick refresher, the Kindle DX features a high contrast 9.7-inch e-ink pearl screen, offering 50% better contrast for clearer text and sharper images. Unlike the backlit displays of typical tablets, the e-ink display looks and reads like real paper, giving you the best visibility in sunlight with no glare. The 3G wireless is included (Whispersync), so you’ll never have to make a monthly payment to download more content. Subscribe to a magazine and have it magically delivered to your device while you sleep.

The Kindle DX has enough storage for up to 3,500 books and has a battery life (wireless off) of up to three weeks. The global wireless coverage includes not only the United States, but throughout 100 countries and territories around the world. And yes, it has a keyboard for ease of text entry too. The regular price is $379, but you can buy it today for $269, including free shipping.

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When it comes to e-ink, you won’t get high-res graphics or color like an iPad, but you do get that easy-on-the-eyes B&W newsprint style view of your text and images.   There are currently only a hand full of color e-ink solutions out there and even fewer, like the Ectaco jetBook Color, are very expensive (around $500).  Most are from brands that we have never heard of.

This is about to change though, according to a new rumor that suggests Amazon has begun purchasing 6-inch e-ink color modules from EPD maker, E Ink Holdings. The report comes from a Chinese-language Economic Daily News report and suggests that shipping will begin in March and are expected to three million units per month.

If this rumor proves true this could mean that we will finally have a major-brand color e-ink device in the form of an Amazon Kindle. If true, this could be pretty big news, especially for educational and business venues looking for a device to replace text books and manuals without giving its employees/students full access to a tablet device.

[ source ]

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An early Ice Cream Sandwich port was demoed for Notion Ink Adam, a 10.1 Tegra 2 based Indian tablet that recently started to cooperate with Tabletroms. The tabletroms forum is an active community of developers that have continued the development of firmware for this one year old tablet.

Although the Notion Ink Adam has largely been forgotten, it still had some unique features such as an optional Pixel Qi transflective screen that keeps working under strong light with e-ink type rendering, and a swivel camera.

Prospects of an official port of Ice Cream Sandwich — apart from what can be found in ICS Android Open Source Project repositories — for Notion Ink device are unclear. Then, in general, Tegra 2 based slates are not the first choice for Google’s ICS developers, to put it mildly.

The post Notion Ink Runs Ice Cream Sandwich, Sort Of appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Now an Ectaco jetBook Color 9.7″ tablet may change the landscape for e-ink readers.

Geek.com and other blogs report very interesting features of this tablet coming to US in January 2012.

The unit is based on the Hanvon C920, which utilizes a 1600 x 1200 Triton color E Ink display that’s capable of interpreting two-finger touch gestures. Wi-Fi support is built in, and there’s a stylus onboard for those who want to take advantage of the jetBook’s handwriting recognition abilities to leave notes in the digital margins of their books.

The jetBook can handle loads of different file formats, including EPUB, PDF, MOBI, DOC, XLS, and HTML — JPG and PNG photos are also supported, as are MP3, WAV, and WMA audio files. Opera’s web browser is included, as is a text-to-speech engine, and there’s a microSD expansion to hold your ever-expanding library.

A pre-order page at Ectaco presents detailed specs of the device:

• Triton Color E Ink screen
• 9.7″ Display
• 1600×1200 resolution
• Load Your Own Content
• Support for: Adobe DRM 9.1, ePub, Mobi, PRC, RTF, TXT, PDF, FB2, djvu, JPG, Gif, PNG, BMP (more to come)
• Wi-Fi enabled with browser
• Fluent Text-to-Speech can read you any book
• 10,000 page turns on a single charge
• Support via microSD for up to 32GB
• Sleek protective carrying case included
• Underline and highlight text
• 50-state reading list
• Fully interactive SAT course
• “Overdrive” library access
• Wireless access to online textbooks, www.ck12.org and other resources
• Speed Reading course
• Talking Oxford Dictionaries
• Course of English and foreign language grammar
• Speech recognition and speech analysis Language Teacher and U-Learn courses that teach you a language step by step
• Pictured dictionaries for 38 languages
• Cross translator for 180 languages
• Vocabulary Builder
• Linguistic Crosswords
• Reference materials for Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography and Earth Science
• Interactive Periodic Table of Elements
• Graphing and scientific calculators

The post Ectaco jetBook Color E-Ink Reader gets to US in January appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

ITRI, Taiwan’s largest and one of the world’s leading high-tech research and development institutions have introduced the I2R e-Paper. The first electronic paper ever proven to be re-writable, re-usable and environmentally friendly. This is the real deal – the “electronic paper” is the latest entry to the attempt to end our overwhelming use of traditional paper.

“It’s a fact that a significant portion of daily office printed papers will be discarded in days or weeks after use,” said Dr. Janglin Chen, general director of ITRI’s Display Technology Center. “i2R e-Paper’s re-cycle and re-use capabilities, positive effects on the environment and low cost of production are paving the way for mass acceptance of green e-paper technologies.”

This e-paper requires heat to transfer images and text to the surface and can be erased by inserting the e-paper into a thermal writing device (like your typical fax machine). I2R e-Paper’s special energy-conserving display technology is a flexible cholesteric liquid crystal panel that requires only heat to transmit images without using expensive inks. Because of its memory capabilities, the e-paper can be preset to display images at certain intervals – making it suitable for digital signage (TVs and billboards) that typically require more energy to maintain. It can also replace many printed paper products like event tickets, posters, flyers or promotional materials.

I2R e-paper is unlike e-readers and tablets, which require electricity for back lighting. This product does not require electricity to maintain the visuals much like the Kindle.

[GizMag via ITRI]

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We’ve seen e-ink displays before. We’ve seen flexible displays too, but this is the first time that we’ve really seen the two put together in the context of a smartphone concept. Scientists at Queen’s University in Ontario have come up with just that, and they call it the Paperphone.  As you can probably gather from its name, the Paperphone is quite possibly the world’s first paper smartphone. The idea is that you get the same kind of functionality as an iPhone in a flexible piece of translucent paper, powered with similar e-ink technology as you find in something like the Kindle. The difference is this is flexible.  To make matters kind of strange, you don’t necessarily “tap” or “touch” the various displayed elements to make a call or play music. Instead, you bend and curve the 9.5cm (3.74-inch) display a certain way. According to professor Roel Vertegaal, the Paperphone is like a flexible conference badge in size.

I don’t buy into the projection that “all phones [will] be like this within five to 10 years,” but it is a fascinating form factor to consider. Imagine all the accidental calls you’ll make when you sit on the paper smartphone! This prototype is said to have cost $7,000 to build.

The post Video: Paperphone Concept takes e-ink Technology to the next level appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

That’s right. We’ve got two Apple patents for the price of one, both of which could point toward what we should be expecting from the upcoming iPhone 5. Bear in mind that these are just patents and the folks in Cupertino may not necessarily follow through on these design cues. So, which will it be? Smart bezels or an e-paper hybrid?

First, let’s look at the smart bezel. In general, the bezel around your touchscreen is pretty much useless, so Apple might be trying to offer additional icons (which may or may not be touch sensitive) around the edges. This gives you visual feedback that is dependent on the current app. Given that Apple is reportedly stretching the screen to four inches while maintaining the same outside dimensions for the iPhone 5, though, there might not be too much room for a smart bezel.

The other rumor points toward some sort of e-paper hybrid. Cozying up next to your Prius, this effectively lets you have both e-paper and regular display tech on the same screen. The rationale is that the more static screens (like the home lock screen) can be shown with e-paper tech to extend battery life, whereas more dynamic screens (like Angry Birds) can be shown with the conventional display. It could also do some combination of the two.

This sounds like a much more interesting proposition, but I’m not sure the tech is quite there to make it a reality just yet. As always, keep your ears to the ground, because Apple rumors are always just that: rumors.

[Read via Patently Apple]

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A Nemoptic ePaper price tag

With oil prices fluctuating daily effecting food prices across the board, how do retailers manage to keep their pricing relevant without too much man power? Nempotic, maker of a high-tech display called Binem Active Matrix E-Paper has been supplying European and Asian grocery stores with these tiny remotely updatable price tags, which also happen to be a tree-free solution.  The company seems to have many tricks up their sleeve, making a two-inch, 170 dpi screen that can refresh in 30ms, without the dreadfully notorious e-ink reload that we’ve been accustomed to with traditional eReaders on the market.  The Nemoptic display is even capable of showing video, and will eventually branch out into other tech products if we are lucky.   Backlighting is a must, and Nemoptic has got that figured out as well, the only question remains is if they will beat Pixel Qi to the punch.

The resolution and contrast in these displays are nothing earth shattering, but making them affordable enough that they can be disposed of is the real clincher.  Below you can see videos of the refresh speed, half refresh, backlighting and playing video.

[Via Technology Review]

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