France-based Netatmo launched a new smart thermostat (simply called Thermostat) that utilizes an E Ink display to show the temperature and settings. The device can be controlled from a mobile phone (with support for both iOS and Android).
The device also learns the owner's habits over time and can adjust itself accordingly. The Thermostat is now available for $288.
Dixons, the UK's electronics retailer is trialing E Ink based electronic shelf-edge price labels in a Curreys and PC World store in Aylesbury. The Herberg Group is supporting Dixons with software.
Using the E Ink labels, Dixons can adjust details and prices of products from a central location. Dixons hopes that this will enable it to compete dynamically with internet retailers. The labels will also provide more information on the product which will help customers to make more informed choices. Later on Dixons will also enable smartphone interactions via QR codes and social media tools.
In September Qualcomm unveiled the Toq smartwatch that uses a small full-touch Mirasol display. They promised they will release it later in 2013 and indeed now Qualcomm announced that the Toq will be available on December 2nd - for $350.
Other Toq features include Bluetoothm, Wi-fi and a wireless charging dock that also doubles as a case for the optional bluetooth headset. It supports Android 4.0.3 and higher.
The UK's Technology Strategy Bard granted £1.1 million to several companies to work on a new all-in-one "Multipass" for railcards, bus tickets and boarding passes. They hope to start the first pilot in London and Glasgow in 2014. The full roll-out is planned for 2015.
The idea is to have a single card that will hold all your bus, rail, car parking and air-travel tickets in one place. The card will include an E Ink screen that will present scannable barcodes for operators.
Remember YotaPhone's smartphone with the two 4.3" displays, a 720x1280 LCD and a 640 à 360 E Ink? The company promised to ship the phone in November, and now it announced that it will ship in time for the holidays, but only next month. The phone will cost â¬500 in Europe.Â
The YotaPhone will have a dual-core 1.7Ghz PU, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. It is an exciting phone, but today several companies offer smartphone covers with E Ink panels on them which may be a better solution for most people.
E Ink Holdings reported their financial results. The company posted $17.2 million in net profit (compared to a loss of over $34 million in Q2 2013) as major customers launched next-generation e-readers and boosted sales (mostly it seems, in emerging markets such as China, India and the Philippines).
The company says they have a labor shortage in china and they need to hire 1,000 more workers to meet demand.