April 2010

Pixel Qi's CEO has posted a new blog post, saying that they have fixed their manufacturing delays, and production is ramping up to the scale and schedule required by "some of the largest computer companies in the world".

She also tells us that the displays have actually been shipping to some "specialized products" that aren't available in stores yet. She also tells us that the DIY display kit partner will be announced soon, and that they are preparing a new "wider viewing angle technology" in the fall.

A fire broke out in an E Ink lab on April 23. There were no injuries or major losses, and production schedules are unaffected. The fire was put out in 20 minutes.

Liquavista announced the acquisition of a significant portfolio of IP, which will further strengthen their current electrowetting based display portfolio. They want to become a one-stop-shop for the licensing of electrowetting display technology, and this is a "step forward".

"Our current portfolio already enables us to cover all modes of operation; reflective, transmissive and transflective, as well as providing us with a broad coverage throughout our value proposition” added Johan Feenstra, CTO. “As such, in addition to protecting the core principle of making electrowetting displays in a way that re-uses the current infrastructure, it also covers other areas, including materials and driving methods.".

Liquavista has just raised $9.5 million. We have talked to Johan a few weeks ago, here's the full interview.

E Ink is showing their next-generation e-paper technology. It will have better contrast, and will be able to show "animation" clips. It will be in production in the second half of 2010 (and obviously it'll take some time before real products start shipping with it, but they might start to appear towards the end of 2010). They still haven't got a name for that display...

Digitimes reports that PVI is planning to invest $500 million to expand its E Ink production business in China. PVI will also collaborate with Fnashu.com and Phoenix publishing for content development.

PVI's plan is to turn Yangzhou into a E Ink production hub, and the investment will cover all sectors: from material supply to device development. PVI hopes that other companies will follow suit and invest in e-paper production in the area.

HP has developed a new wearable E Ink display for the army that is flexible and solar-powered. It can be wrapped around a soldier's wrist, and could show maps or directions. The whole display is just 200 microns thick. HP plans to offer first prototypes in early 2011.

The E Ink displays will be manufactured using a roll-to-roll process. HP says it will work with a company called Phicot that it spun out recently to produce these displays.

DisplaySearch say that shipments of e-paper increased to 5 million units in 2009, up 417% on year from 950,000 units in 2008, mainly due to the popularity of e-book readers. The Amazon Kindle has 66% of the total e-paper market, which means that they sold 3.3 million units.

Liquavista has announced it has raised $9.5 million in a Series D funding round. Liquavista is expecting products using their technology to arrive in 2011. They make monochrome and color e-paper like displays.

Last month we interviewed their CTO.

Seiko has announced a new EPD Watch that has an Active-Matrix E Ink display. It's the world's first phone with such a display (there are already some with segmented E Ink "Surf" displays). The display has 80,000 pixels (300dpi) and 4 gray levels. The watch can display the time, date and a world-clock option with a nice photo of the earth.