Hasta La Gadget!

How do you solve a problem like lighting a Mirasol display? Sure, the technology provides something of a comprise between traditional E Ink displays and tablet LCDs, with full video and color, low power consumption, and the ability to be viewed in bright sunlight, but it still has some decided drawbacks: like a lack of backlighting. Qualcomm showed off a simple and elegant solution at this week’s CES on the Hill, essentially embedding a book light into the device, lighting it from the front — it’s not the first time we’ve seen an e-reader arrive at this answer, but still, sometimes the easiest solutions are the best. The prototype shown off in DC this week had buttons on the rear for adjusting brightness, though according to The Digital Reader, Qualcomm will also be showing off a device with an ambient light sensor in the near future. The technology should be on store shelves this fall — no word whether the device is capable of yelling at you for “ruining your eyes” by reading in the dark.

Mirasol display gets lighting solution for reading alone at parties, bars originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 May 2011 11:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yesterday, we found out that E Ink Holdings won’t be releasing a new electronic paper display until 2012 and now, we know why. Turns out, the Pearl manufacturer has been busy refining its screen tech acumen, and extending it to a variety of different surfaces. The Digital Reader recently caught up with Sriram Peruvemba, E Ink’s VP of global sales and marketing, who confirmed that his company has developed a SIRF display that can be printed on cloth, effectively turning any t-shirt into a flashing, black-and-white billboard. E Ink’s engineers have taken a similar approach to Tyvek cloth, creating a display that could make your vanilla postal envelopes a little more dynamic. And, as you might expect, the company has been experimenting with an e-ink screen capable of supporting colorful, full-motion video — though it looks like E Ink still needs to smooth out some of the grainy kinks in that one. All three demo videos are available for your viewing pleasure, after the break.

[Thanks, Nate]

Continue reading E Ink develops flashing displays for cloth and Tyvek, experiments with color FMV (video)

E Ink develops flashing displays for cloth and Tyvek, experiments with color FMV (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 May 2011 11:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve got a pretty good inkling that it’s coming — the big question is when will Amazon finally ship an LCD tablet. According to DigiTimes, and its occasionally trusty sources at upstream component makers, when is defined by the second half of 2011. What’s more, the media tablet will feature a Fringe Field Switching LCD display and touch panel from Amazon fave E Ink Holdings, a company better known for the technology behind the Kindle’s EPD e-paper displays. According to DigiTimes, Quanta has received the manufacturing honors with production expected to peak at about 700,000 – 800,000 units per month. So yeah, the Amazon Kindle tablet won’t be sporting a Mirasol display according to this gossip. Then again, it’s only gossip so anything goes.

Amazon tablet shipping later this year according to new tattle originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 May 2011 01:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Look, you can’t say no to a $99 electronic ink drawing tablet, but to believe that that his here NoteSlate has any chance of retailing at that price you’d also need the naiveté of a child who accepts free candies from strangers. While we remain skeptical, said tablet’s website has just been updated with a new stash of product shots and an in-depth walkthrough, which are kinda convincing if you ignore the price tag. The mono-color models are here to stay as well, though we should point out that there’s a $30 alternative, already available, from Improv Electronics for those who need nothing more than just doodling. Otherwise, keep an eye out for the NoteSlate come June.

[Thanks, Eddie]

Filed under: Tablet PCs

NoteSlate teased with new product shots, moves one step away from vaporware status originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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File under “awesome wish-ware.” The NoteSlate is a tablet that takes the name “slate” rather too literally. It’s an E Ink tablet which comes with a pop-out stylus to write on the screen, and while it also comes in white, the black version looks just like a real slate –- those stone chalkboards on which schoolkids worked in the dreary mists of the past.

A huge 13-inch display takes up most of the front panel of the device. The screen measures 190 x 270 mm [7.5 x 10.6 inches], and the body 210 x 310 x 6 mm [8.3 x 12.2 x 0.24 inches]. This makes it the same width as A4 or legal paper, and between the two in length (legal is 355mm [14 inches], A4 is 279mm [11 inches]). Resolution is 750 x 1080 pixels. Inputs and outputs are few: miniUSB, SD-slot, 3.5-mm jack and power (12 volts, which seems a little high).

The NoteSlate has a single purpose: to act like a piece of paper. You can sketch and write, and the three hardware buttons let you delete a whole page (with the pen acting as an eraser for localized corrections), store the current page, or flip to the previous page (no mention is made of skipping to the next page).

At $99, it looks like an awesome gadget, but has the distinct whiff of vaporware. The mockups on the site show a color version along with the black-and-white ones, and promise a “free Wi-Fi module on request with order”. The resolution (claimed as 100 ppi) seems low for E Ink, and the touting of no anti-aliasing as “one of our best features” is just plain weird.

The launch date is promised as June 2011, and I’d love to see something like this as a replacement to paper notebooks. I have a sneaking feeling, though, that this will just disappear and never be seen again. I have set myself a calendar reminder for the middle of June to check up on things.

NoteSlate product page [NoteSlate via Kottke]

See Also:

• Pixel Qi Hybrid E-Ink LCD Screens for Your Own Netbook
• Slates
• 7 Reasons You Won’t Want a Windows 7 Slate