Two newly-published Apple patent applications hint at some of the display concepts the company has been exploring, notes AppleInsider. The first, Motion Controllable Dual Display Portable Media Device, depicts a tablet with an e-ink display on either side. By flipping the tablet in different contexts, different commands could be executed.
iRex Technologies has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following poor sales of its DR800 e-book reader. The Netherlands-based company, known for developing electronic paper technology, has blamed its financial woes on delays during the FCC approval process.
Timepiece maker Seiko has announced it will soon release the first wristwatch with an active matrix e-ink display. The display can show four levels of gray and has an extremely high 300DPI resolution. Moreover, since the screen only needs power when it updates, it only needs to draw current once every minute and improves battery life compared to a regular LCD.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs disclosed a few more salient iPad facts in the immediate aftermath of Wednesday's product announcement, a video interview reveals. Speaking with Wall Street Journal writer Walt Mossberg, Jobs commented on the display of the tablet, which is a 9.7-inch IPS LCD, an unusual choice for something also meant to serve as an e-book reader. Readers like the Kindle use e-ink, which is easier on the eyes but also significantly extends the battery life of hardware.
Dulin's Books recently announced the arrival of the PocketBook 301 and the PocketBook 360 e-book readers in the US. Both devices are rebadged, as Dulin's Books is a reseller not a manufacturer, but are relatively advanced for the class. The PocketBook 360 has a 5-inch E-Ink Vizplex display and is powered by a 400MHz Samsung processor, while its 512MB of built-in memory can be expanded to 32GB thanks to a microSD memory card slot.
The New York Times is now deeply involved in investigating electronic concepts, says Harvard University's Nieman Journalism Lab. The newspaper's research and development group is exploring a variety of options in place of print, which is losing an increasing amount of money as subscribers cancel in favor of reading via the Internet. Among the key technologies for the R&D group is e-ink, as used in e-book readers from Amazon, Sony and others. Particular interest is being directed at flexible displays, which are said to have had "breakthroughs" in the past six months that could result in more pliable circuitboards.
The Samsung Alias, also known as the U740, is due to be replaced with this dual-band CDMA handset, the U750, which sports the first dynamic keypad in the industry. The dual-hinged phone will display numbers on its keys when opened up in a portrait orientation or a full QWERTY keyboard when flipped in the landscape view. Rumors have it that the feat is accomplished thanks to e-ink technology on each key, though this is not confirmed.
Arizona State University's Flexible Display Center (FDC), along with its military and industry partners, are laying claim to producing the first active-matrix display with a flexible touchscreen. The device uses an active-matrix electrophoretic display tech from E-Ink Corp. along with materials from DuPont Teijin Films for the flexible touchscreen instead of the typical glass used in today's touchscreens. Using a solid glass touchscreen panel defeats the purpose of a flexible display as the package cannot be folded without incurring damage.
