05/13, 7:51am
Aims to replace paper with touchscreen e-ink display for note taking
Sony has been working on a device for using e-ink as digital paper in an educational setting. Aimed at universities as a replacement for pen and paper-based notetaking by students, the prototype is a 13.3-inch, 1200x1600-resolution, 16-level gray scale e-ink display-as-tablet with touchscreen capabilities, as well as stylus input for drawing and writing.
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10/22, 1:13pm
E-ink display allows for claimed week-long battery life
Video of a prototype Android smartphone with an e-ink display has been put online. The Onyx International EINK smartphone uses an e-ink display instead of a normal handset screen, which allows the phone to not only be viewable in direct sunlight, but can also run for up to a week on a single battery charge.
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06/06, 9:03pm
E Ink technology bound for other applications
E Ink, maker of the monochrome displays featured in many of the most popular e-reader devices, is looking to apply its technology in a variety of other sectors. EE Times reports that, at the 2012 Society for Information Display conference, the company has been showing off novel applications of its e-paper displays in products ranging from smart cards to bicycles.
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03/29, 5:35am
LG first with flexible e-ink e-paper, ready April
LG Display has announced that that it has started mass production of the world's first plastic electronic paper display (EPD) for use in the next generation of e-books. The 6-inch monochrome e-ink-based plastic EPD sports a resolution of 1024x768, but its real trick is its ability to bend at up to 40 degrees from the center of the screen. It achieves this feat by being one-third thinner than existing EPDs, which continue to use a glass substrate instead of plastic, also making the LG EPD only half as heavy.
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07/21, 12:30pm
Glasses-free 3D would require multiple OLED panels
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.
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06/09, 8:55pm
Fate of products uncertain
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.
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04/02, 12:55pm
Seiko intros first wristwatch with e-ink display
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.
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01/29, 9:35am
Executive deflects battery claims
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.
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11/09, 3:00pm
Dulin's Books outs e-book readers, promises more
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.
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05/11, 1:15pm
NY Times probes e-books
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.
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03/26, 2:30pm
Samsung Alias U750 coming
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.
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02/24, 5:35pm
Flexible touchscreen LCD
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.
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