E Ink - Page 27

When Amazon announced their new Kindle Paperwhite, they wouldn't say what kind of E Ink panel is used - just that it's got a higher resolution (XGA), better contrast, better touch capabilities and a faster refresh rate. Our friend Sriram Peruvemba, E Ink's marketing chief explains that the major advances in this new display is a better TFT and improved software.

The new TFT backplane allows them to achieve a higher resolution - 212 dpi (XGA), compared to the older generation TFT which allowed only 167 dpi (SVGA). The new software design also allows for faster refresh. Now grey-to-grey speed is 450 mSecs, compared to 600 mSecs using the older software (i.e. 25% faster).

Amazon announced a new Kindle e-reader today, the Kindle Paperwhite. This is pretty much the same e-reader as the Kindle Touch (which is no longer available), but it's got a new E Ink panel with built-in light, 25% improved contrast and a higher resolution (1024x768). This is quite an improvement over Pearl E Ink panels, we do not know yet what's the name of the E Ink panel itself yet.

The new Kindle will ship on October 1st 2012. The Wi-Fi model costs $139 (or $119 with ads) and the 3G model costs $199 (or $179 with ads). Amazon also reduced the price of the non-touch Kindle 2011 to $69 with ads (and $89 without).

There are reports that Amazon are going to announce new Kindle devices soon, and some rumors suggest that the new E Ink Kindle will sport a next generation E Ink panel. The new display will sport higher contrast and resolution compared to Pearl panels (used in current Kindles).

In fact, the new contrast is so good that Amazon refers to the new Kindle as "Paperwhite". Of course none of this is still official, we'll have to wait till September 6 for Amazon's press conference.

E Ink is showing an interesting prototype at IFA 2012 - a smartphone that has two displays, an LCD and an E Ink - one on each side. The E Ink will be used for reading and showing "persistant" data such as network status, battery level and information that the user needs for a long time (such as boarding pass information). This will not only conserve the battery but also free up space on the main (LCD or OLED) display.

The most interesting thing is that E Ink says that several vendors are considering this idea, with at least one vendor that plans to release such a phone in 2013. We can't wait!

The Pebble E Ink watch team posted a video showing the upcoming Kickstarter-funded watch user interface (on a prototype watch with an E Ink display):

E Ink has bought AUO's shares (82.7%) in Sipix Technology (STI) - the maker of micro?cup technology based electrophoretic e-paper displays. E Ink also intends to buy the remaining STI shares. The whole deal is worth about NT$1.5 billion (about $50 million USD) and will should close during Q4 2012.

Flexible solar Sipix prototype

Sipix's technology is pretty similar to E Ink's. It's not clear whether E Ink intends to continue producing Sipix displays or whether they bought them just for the IP and to remove a competitor. Sipix has been used in some e-readers (for example the Cybook Orizon), and apparently has some advantages over E Ink in the touch technology and refresh rate. E Ink is of course the clear e-paper e-reader leader with over 90% market share.

Here's a summary of my visit to E Ink's booth at SID 2012. E Ink had a very large booth, showing dozens of E-readers and other devices that sport E Ink panels. Lot's of these used Ink-In-Motion, E Ink's segmented displays (rather then the active-matrix ones used in e-readers for example).

The largest display at the booth, and one of the most interesting ones was the hybrid EPD/LED traffic light concept. It uses a large circular e-paper panel, color filters and LEDs (in an outer ring). The hybrid traffic light provides higher visibility in direct sunlight than regular traffic lights (who need to "overpower" the sunlight). E Ink's concept uses 24 LEDs vs 200 in a regular traffic light. Great idea. Just below the traffic light E Ink built a small E Ink crosswalk - showing a nice usage of rugged shatterproof panels.

The Wexler Flex One flexible e-reader is now shipping in china, and we've got the first video of this exciting new device. The reader uses LG's flexible plastic based E Ink panel (6", XGA 1024x768), and in fact the whole device is made from plastic and so can be bent - and is quite shatterproof (and very light). Here's our friend Sri from E Ink demonstrating it at SID 2012:

We do not know the price of this device yet, but according to Sri the flexible E Ink panel itself is only about 10-15% more expensive than a glass based display. The major downsize is that the resolution and speed of a plastic-based display is not as good as a glass based one. I personally think this was one of the most exciting demonstrations at SID...

Here's a nice video showing Plastic Logic's new flexible color e-paper display:

This is taken at RUSNANO's Plastic Logic Technology Day (14th May 2012)

Plastic Logic announced that they decided to quit the e-reader market, and will not produce new devices. The company will use its plastic-based flexible e-paper (E Ink) displays in other applications. The company does want to find e-reader partners and will license the technology, and will "actively develop licensing and technology partnerships to exploit its e-reader related capabilities in terms of rugged, plastic displays as well as driver and viewing optimization software.”