Hasta La Gadget!

E Ink, the company whose displays power almost all the major e-book readers, has released a new line of its broadsheet prototype kits aimed at developers. The AM-300 kit offers a 9.7-inch display and comes on the heels of the launch of Amazon’s larger sized Kindle e-book reader Kindle DX Wednesday .

The latest kit allows companies to experiment around E Ink’s display and build their own prototype readers.”With the success of e-books, there is lot of interest in e-newspapers,” says Sri Peruvemba, vice president of marketing for E Ink. “We have had every major publisher talk to us about our displays and many large equipment manufacturers are getting into the space.”

E Ink’s experiments with similar kits has paid off in the past. Last year it launched the AM300 series kit targeted at product designers and hobbyists who want hands-on access to its e-books reader sized display technology.  The kits offered buyers a production sample of a glass-based display, a display controller and all the hardware and software necessary to produce a fully functional e-reader. Though most of the kits priced at $3000 each were bought by companies looking to create Kindle competitors, a few enthusiasts hacked it to run a browser and some Linux applications.

E Ink’s new Broadsheet AM 300 kit has a resolution of 150 pixels per inch and can display multiple shades of gray giving readers the clarity of newsprint, says the company.  The kit includes a display module, a Linux x86 operating environment, E Ink API software for Broadsheet, various sample images, open source software drivers and applications including support for MMC cards, Bluetooth and USB. The kits will start shipping by the end of the month.

See also:
For $3K, You Can Build Your Own Kindle Killer

Photo: Broadsheet AM 300 Kit/ E Ink