I tried a few ways of making that familiar playground taunt work syllable-wise, but it was not meant to be. Slightly more propitious is this agreement between the ambitious (but troubled) One Laptop Per Child initiative and Pixel Qi, maker of innovative hybrid displays. Pixel Qi’s sunlight-readable display technology (seen most recently in the Notion Ink Adam) was spun off more than two years ago, but they just couldn’t keep themselves apart. How romantic! I guess sometimes you just know you’re destined to be together. → Read More
Revealed at CeBIT recently, we find that Gigabyte is building an e-reader of their own. Called the EB10, the new reader will be running Android on a 667Mhz Samsung processor. What makes this one different from the rest of the readers out there? → Read More
So we told you about the Phosphor watch back in May, and many people asked themselves, “but can I get it in black?” Admit it, you did. I could hear you. Really. Anyway, the answer to that burning question is “yes, the Phosphor watch is now available in black as well as silver.” → Read More
So Matt and I just got our hands on the Samsung E6, the company’s first electronic book reader. As a device it’s not bad, but compared to what’s out there you just know that Samsung was all, “We need to release something to get a foothold in the market.” The 6-inch e-redaer slides open, quite possibly like a phone you once owned. It’s only black and white, too, so those of you expecting Samsung to usher in the era of color e-reaers will be disappointed. → Read More
E-ink is cool, sure, but it’s still largely a black-and-white technology. Philips Research has moved into the color realm with what they’re calling e-skin. “The first applications using the technology could be e-skins for small devices such as MP3 players or cell phones. However, the technology is highly scalable,” says Kars-Michiel Lenssen, Principal Scientist at Philips Research. The vision from Philips is an e-skin on your portable device that can be changed to match your outfit or your mood with the press of a button. → Read More
The Moto Dev Group (not Motorola) previously stated that the company is fully committed to Android development and now it seems the company is working diligently getting the OS functional on an e-ink display. So far the development guys have succeeded on a proof of concept device, but it’s still far from production quality. Android’s open source code and e-inks low power consumption could be match made in heaven if the two can work nicely together. → Read More
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1783461&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1 Right around 2 weeks ago, MAKE Magazine posted pictures documenting the tear down of Esquire magazine’s fully functional e-ink cover. If you haven’t managed to track down one of these increasingly tough to find rags (or if you have but the “MINT IN BOX BRAND NEW L@@K” side of your personality wont let you tear it apart), you can now relive the entire experience vicariously through this video dissection. With Esquire magazine’s staff <a href="condoning hacks of the cover, how long can it be before the tinkerers have got Doom up and running? [NotCOT via Make] → Read More
All right, show of hands: How many of you people have already done this? If I could have gotten my hands on one, I know I would have already torn it to pieces, but we’re not all wired that way. At any rate MAKE sure is and they’ve taken pictures of the whole process so you don’t have to. Anyone else disappointed by this so-called “display”? The “resolution” is so low that this thing is essentially a glorified backlight. → Read More
[photopress:scaled.IMG_1375.JPG,full,pp_image] After years of suffering, watch geeks are finally getting products dedicated to their quirky and specific tastes. Sure, any oldster can sport a gold Rolex, but what is an Emo kid with a gadget fetish to wear? A Swatch? Companies like Tokyoflash and Nooka have filled that techno-void with watches that are both high-tech and cool looking. Now, add another member to that selfsame roster. [photopress:scaled.IMG_1372.JPG,thumb,pp_image][photopress:scaled.IMG_1371.JPG,thumb,pp_image][photopress:scaled.IMG_1370.JPG,thumb,pp_image][photopress:scaled.IMG_1369.JPG,thumb,pp_image][photopress:scaled.IMG_1373.JPG,thumb,pp_image] → Read More
[photopress:14445_large.jpg,full,center] We don’t see too many Hitachi-branded mobiles here in the states, but we might soon see the e-ink technology it used with this new Japanese handset. Eschewing the small, LCD screen most clamshells have on the outside, this W61H instead features large e-ink displays. Sadly, there’s not enough powere here to display new texts, but it allows for an instantly changing design scheme. This is a first-gen product, and something we expect to see a lot more of in the future. But imagine if, instead of having your iPod inscribed, you could change the back of it at will? That’s the promise of e-ink, and we like it. First Clamshell Mobile Phone With E-Ink Display [Mobile Mag] → Read More
From concept to actual product, the Readius is coming in “mid-2008″ (though not solely as an e-book reader). It will use the same electronic ink technology as Amazon’s Kindle reader although this bendable-display device will apparantly be launched as a cell phone with a 5-inch fold-out screen. The catch? No web browser. So close, huh? The Readius will have high-speed data access but everything will have to be preconfigured from your home PC first, like your e-mail accounts, podcasts, news feeds, and the like. It’s a good first step but still, no web browser? This, according to the company, is for a “simpler mobile environment.” Later versions may contain a keypad and/or an 8-inch screen, though. The price hasn’t yet been set but I’d guess it’ll be somewhere in the $300 to $500 range. Dutch firm launches phone with fold-away screen [Reuters] → Read More
The Phosphor E Ink watch costs about $250 and features the same e-ink technology found in the Kindle. You can choose one of 14 different face configurations, including white-on-black, and can potentially support two time zones because the analog and digital watches aren’t synced. The best thing is that the battery should last for years simply because of the low power consumption of the e-ink face. There were also some complaints: That said, the Phosphor E Ink watch is probably not the last or only watch you’ll ever need. I found the analog quartz movement and digital modules to be merely adequate, and the lack of any type of illumination system, including luminescent paint, is a blatant omission. However it’s a very nice looking, reasonably comfortable, extremely unique watch and high-tech fashion accessory which is certain to amaze almost everyone you know. No lume = bad. Product Page Review of the Phosphor E Ink Watch [WatchReport] → Read More
http://admin.brightcove.com/destination/player/player.swf This is essentially a prototype HP eReader introduced last week in Shanghai but clearly someone else besides big S is thinking about electronic ink. This one has a little slider thing at the bottom that you use to turn pages. Whoop-de-doo. via Notebooks.com → Read More
You know what? Screw you and your smartphone. You think you’re all worldly with your Web browsing and email, but you’re limited to that 3″ screen, tops. The new hotness comes from Polymer Vision and its new E-Ink cellbook. Using the flexible nature of electronic ink, the book opens from a size similar to a 5-year old cellphone to a UMPC-sized display, meaning you get real web browsing over the cellular network. It’s got its own OS, and is a proof-of-concept demo, but with a decent commercial smarphone OS, this thing would be the bee’s knees. No word on if it supports voice calls, but we’d assume it’d have to somehow. Polymer Vision Demos E-Ink Cell Phone [MobileMag] → Read More
Oh, snap! While Sony was busy whining about the production woes and the dubiously “high demand” of its lackluster PRS-500, Fujitsu went and made color e-ink. And what’s better, there is already a working prototype in a respectably small case. This new setup had a 4.7 x 6.3 inch display and can project 4096 colors. It has 32MB of on-board memory and a miniSD expansion slot. Could this be the hard copy alternative we’ve all dreamed about? Probably not, but it signals progress. Fujitsu shows off color e-ink tablet concept [Engadget] → Read More
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