Samsung is working towards color e-paper displays, and have unveiled a 10.1" prototype. It's still very premature, as the contrast ratio is 10:1, and the color gamut is 7% of the NTSC color gamut.
The Sony Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-300) is now available for 199$. This is a budget e-reader with a 5" E Ink display,512Mb internal memory, USB 2.0 and no wireless connections.
Barnes and Noble officially announced their e-reader, the "Nook". It's got two displays - a 6" E Ink (16-level gray) and a 3.5" touch LCD. The Nook runs on Google's Android platform, has 2GB of memory built in and a microSD card slot, and can play MP3 files, photos and more. It supports ePub, PDFs and more formats. There's free wireless in the US (via AT&T) and Wi-Fi, too.
The Nook is available from Barnes & Noble's site, for 259$. It will ship in November.
E Ink and Freescale say they will develop highly integrated embedded solutions for e-book readers. Their aim is to create cheaper solutions than what's available today, and also to 'spart innovation' for new product categories such as eNewspapers, tablet PCs, secondary laptop displays, eDictionaries and more.
The two companies will develop a System-On-a-Chip (SoC) solutions that integrate Freescale's i.MX processor with E Ink's Vizplex display controllers.
AUO says they will release a 6" flexible e-paper next year (samples, anyway, with volume production to start afterwards). They are also showing a 20" e-paper module, which they say is the world's largest e-paper which is "ready for production".Â
The 6" flexible e-paper is using Sipix's (owned by AUO) Microcup technology. It is made on a plastic substrate, and can be repeatedly bended. The curved radius reaches 100mm, it features 16 gray levels, 9:1 high contrast ratio and a reflectance of 33%. It consumes power only when the image is updated.
The 20" panel is very power efficient, requiring less thatn 2W. It also have 16 levels of gray.
Gizmodo reports that the Barnes & Noble's e-reader will be released next week. It will feature two displays - an E Ink and a smaller color multi-touch LCD:
There's an interesting article over at Gizmodo saying basically that E Ink E-readers are dumb. He prefer reading on LCDs (E Ink is better on the eye, but it's not important to him), power saving is not interesting (he reads around the house), he wants video, and color.
Obviously this does not suit everyone - people who read on the go, and outside surely appreciate E Inks superior readability and battery life. But it's an interesting article in any case.
Seiko Epson and E Ink announced a new joinly developed display controller IC, the S1D13522, which provides a high performance, space saving solution for E Ink's Vizplex-enabled electronic paper displays. The new IC is based on the same powerful engine as the first model, the S1D13521, but provides customers with a higher level of performance and additional features.
The new Epson display controller (code named ISIS) includes 2M bytes of embedded memory and features that greatly reduce the CPU overhead for EPD applications. Allowing multi-regional and concurrent display updates, the S1D13522 adds interface support for direct Touch/Pen drawing. In addition Picture-in-Picture, Rotation, Transparency, and Hardware Cursor functions further increase flexibility in delivering the optimal display experience.
The Advanced Sequencer Engine, Power Management, I2C Thermal Sensor, and optional Serial Flash Memory support make a variety of implementations possible. The new controller also adds interfaces for PMIC I/F and panel auto ID read. Combining all these unique features enables application developers to develop products more efficiently. The S1D13522 is the ideal choice for new EPD designs and design upgrades. Samples of the Epson S1D13522 are available now. Sample price is $20. Production quantities will be available in January 2010.
E Ink plans to offer an ISIS prototype kit that will enable engineers to rapidly prototype and develop next generation ePaper products. Details will be announced when kits are available.
Amazon has finally announced international support for the Kindle. They now offer the Amazon US & International edition for $279 (available since October 19th). It can be used in over 100 countries (using AT&T's global roaming network). Each download overseas will cost 1.99$ (when you buy a new book or download one from your archived items). This is rather expensive - so this is more for Americans who want to use this abroad as well, although it can be shipped internationally from Amazon.
The Kindle US edition now costs 259$ (down from 299$), and will not allow for international roaming.
AUO says that its e-paper displays will be better, and much cheaper than available today, using its large-size production capabilities. In fact, they expect e-book readers prices to fall in half within two years - and they see a 100$ reader by 2011.