According to Jacobs, “only certain” of the mirasol products previously on Qualcomm’s roadmap – i.e. certain sizes of display and certain ereaders – will now be produced and sold by the company itself. Instead, it will look to third-parties who want to adopt mirasol instead.

“With respect to QMT, we’re now focusing on licensing our next-generation mirasol display technology and will directly commercialize only certain mirasol products. We believe that this strategy will better align our updated roadmap with the addressable opportunities” Paul Jacobs, CEO, Qualcomm

mirasol’s path to the marketplace hasn’t been an easy one. It’s been several years since we first saw the fruits of Qualcomm’s labor in small screens, and took from a 2009 reveal to late 2011 for the first mirasol ereader to go on sale.

Along there way there have been various delays and postponed or cancelled launches, and Qualcomm has apparently struggled to meet output goals from its manufacturing facilities. There have been roughly four mirasol product launches, all using an Android-based ereader reference design of the company’s own making, though market feedback has been muted.

Exactly who might jump in and license mirasol remains to be seen; Qualcomm did not mention any potential partners during the results call. The decision echoes that of Plastic Logic, another next-gen screen company which shifted its focus from device production to licensing and partnership deals, in the face of increasing competition within the low-power display market.

[via The Digital Reader; via SeekingAlpha]

Like current e-paper panels, such as those E Ink offers and which are used in the Amazon Kindle among other devices, Ricoh’s new screen requires no backlighting and dramatically less power than traditional LCD.

Ricoh expects the technology to result in high-resolution e-paper displays that are capable of showing fine characters along with graphics. However, it will also have to work on boosting screen sizes and improving long-term reliability before any commercial launch; there’s no timescale for when that might happen.

Press Release:

Ricoh Achieves Color Electronic Paper Display with Significantly Enhanced Brightness and Color Reproducibility

Tokyo May 18 — Ricoh Company, Ltd. (President & CEO: Shiro Kondo) announced that the company, utilizing its original display method, has achieved a display of color still images with about 2.5 times brighter (in white reflectivity) and about 4 times wider color reproduction range compared with presently commercialized or announced color electronic paper technologies.

Electronic paper, having no luminous source, differs from a conventional display unit-it requires no electric power except for rewriting characters and images. Known as a technology gentle on the environment and the human eye, 6.6 million monochrome devices for reading digital books are now sold annually throughout the world and sales are predicted to exceed 11 million readers in 2011 (*1). Although color devices have long been desired, the methods proposed for color electronic paper have thus far not been able to solve the lack of brightness or color reproducibility, even in theory. Therefore the color electronic paper market is expected to grow significantly with future technology development, greatly expanding possible applications.
(*1) Gartner Report: “Competitive Landscape: Connected E-Readers, North America,” published on December 8, 2010.

Ricoh developed the world’s first new organic electrochromic material (*2) producing three primary colors (Cyan, Magenta and Yellow) while improving memory properties in March 2009. The company at the same time proposed a simple laminating element structure, forming three electrochromic layers between two substrates. This was made possible by stepping outside the box and beyond the original display methodology hitherto in vogue. This proved the feasibility of color electronic paper capable of achieving a bright display at low power consumption and low cost.
(*2) Joint development with Yamada Chemical Co., Ltd. (Kyoto, President: Shimpei Yamada).

Based on this result, Ricoh moved from the development phase of element technology to the development of a practical application of prototypes featuring high resolution electronic paper. This led to success in achieving bright images with high color image reproducibility. Ricoh will accelerate development toward practical application by improving reliability/repetition durability (guaranteeing tens of thousands of rewrites) and larger screen size. Although development will expand to include document display devices that can display fine characters, the evolution will progress with various applications developing in parallel.

Ricoh introduced this technology at DISPLAY WEEK 2011 of SID (The Society for Information Display) held in Los Angeles from May 15 to 20.

That basically integrates one of those clip-on LED reading lights you see for Amazon’s Kindle and other ereaders, allowing you to read them in the dark. Unlike a clip-on, however, Qualcomm’s system more evenly illuminates the full display, and of course doesn’t extend from the body of the ereader itself.

As you can see from the two mirasol prototypes above – new on the left, old on the right – it makes a big difference to the color e-paper tech. In brighter light the illumination could be shut off to save power, but it makes for a more flexible ereader having the system onboard. Qualcomm is apparently readying a new version with an ambient light sensor, that would automatically fire up the LEDs when they’re needed.

Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a little longer to see these panels show up in commercial ereaders, as word from Qualcomm is that the first products aren’t expected until fall 2011. Still no definitive word on which OEMs have picked up the display technology.

Rather than an all-or-nothing choice of either the electronic paper or LCD panels, the screen would be divided into segments which could selectively be set to show one or the other. That could mean video playback on the top half of the screen, using the color LCD, and text underneath, using the e-paper.

The hardware isn’t the only special thing Apple is hoping to patent, however. The submission also describes a system of intelligent switching which would analyze to what extent the on-screen graphics and text were dynamic and moving, deciding between the two panels automatically depending on which is better suited to the content. So, static text would trigger the e-paper display, while video content would activate the LCD display. Alternatively, the color composition of what was being displayed could trigger the change.

What would of course be necessary is an e-paper or LCD display that could be suitably transparent/translucent to allow the other layer to be seen through. Alternatively, Apple could look to technologies like Qualcomm’s mirasol, which offer both the low power consumption and zero-backlighting requirements of traditional e-paper, but can also show color images at video-friendly refresh rates. Still, mirasol and other color e-ink technologies still lack the saturation and refresh rates of LCD.

[via AppleInsider]

Samsung is particularly keen to point out that the electrowetting panels can be manufactured by modifying existing LCD production lines, which the South Korean company obviously has in abundance. It promises “significant synergies through the utilization of existing manufacturing equipment and capabilities” which will hopefully amount to cheaper displays and accelerated product cycles.

Press Release:

Liquavista gets acquired by Samsung

Becomes part of biggest display company in the world to realize the full potential of electrowetting display technology

January 20, 2011 – Eindhoven – Today, Liquavista BV., announced that it has been acquired by Samsung Electronics in a buyout of all shares from the past shareholders. Under the terms of this acquisition, Liquavista will be a fully owned affiliate of Samsung Electronics.

“We are thrilled by this event” said Johan Feenstra, Liquavista’s Founder and newly appointed CEO of Liquavista, “the outright acquisition of Liquavista by the largest electronics company in the world is the fulfilment of a strategy dating back to the original spin-out and, confirmation of the disruptive potential that our technology will have in the display market.”

The acquisition has also resulted in a number of changes in Liquavista’s management team. Johan Feenstra has succeeded Guy Demuynck as the company’s CEO .

“In the future, consumers will need products that not only support full color and video but offer readability in all lighting conditions and gives them ultimate freedom and portability.” Johan Feenstra added, “Being part of Samsung, we can all be sure that Electrowetting Display Technology will find its way to the market in the fastest possible time.”

Press Release:

Samsung Acquires Display Technology Provider Liquavista

Investment aims expand leadership in next generation displays for mobile devices

SEOUL, South Korea–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a global technology innovation and digital convergence leader, today announced it has acquired display technology firm Liquavista BV. Samsung completed the acquisition of Liquavista, based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in December 2010.

Liquavista, founded in 2006 as a spin-out from the Philips Research Labs, offers a new type of electronic display technology known as electrowetting for applications in e-readers, mobile phones, media players and other mobile devices.

The electrowetting technology, which operates in transmissive, reflective, transparent and transflective modes, enables the creation of displays with bright, colorful images with dramatically reduced power consumption. Offering more than twice the transmittance of LCD technology and able to operate at low frequencies, displays utilizing electrowetting consume just 10 percent of the battery power of existing display technologies.

With the acquisition of Liquavista, Samsung aims to expand its leadership in next generation display technologies by pioneering the application of electrowetting in e-Paper and transparent displays. As electrowetting can be manufactured by modifying existing LCD production lines, Samsung will be able to realize significant synergies through the utilization of existing manufacturing equipment and capabilities.

In e-paper applications, the response time of the electrowetting displays will be more than 70 times faster than that of existing reflective displays, allowing for color videos, which was previously thought impossible. In future, the application of the technology is expected to expand to transparent, transmissive and transflective displays.

Samsung is also reportedly listed as a corporate parent at the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce, though we’ve been unable to independently verify that fact. [Update: See below] Liquavista last made headlines with a flexible, unbreakable e-paper display, and it seems Samsung has decided it wants that technology for its own products.

Job description (translated):

HR Manager

Partner

EINDHOVEN

HR Manager The position As HR Manager you are contributing to the further development and growth of the organization. Ean of your main tasks in the initial phase is to establish a framework around employment such as pensions. The profile you have HBO / university working and thinking and at least 5 years experience in an all round HR function. You are used to operate in a “sales driven, dynamic and international organization. Also recognize yourself in the following competencies: self pioneer Very flexible Proactive Pragmatic Visionary Energetic Excellent communication skills Excellent command of English spoken and written Willing to occasionally travel abroad Full time available (40 hours) The organization has a new Liquavista division of Samsung. The company is active in the field of display development. The offer Location: Eindhoven Salary: between, ¬ 3800, – and, ¬ 5000, – gross per month, excluding holiday and bonus. Employment: 1 year with prospect of permanent employment. Contact Information Simon Onck 073-7511716 Reference number 5806

Update: eReaders.nl have grabbed a screenshot showing Samsung as the new Liquavista parent company [Thanks Natasja]:

[via The Digital Reader]

That panel runs at 768 x 1024 resolution, which means it has 63.8-percent more pixels than its rivals. iriver also reckons it flips pages faster, a side-effect of both the screen and the Freescale i.MX508 processor.

There’s also WiFi – along with Easy Wi-Fi Network support for easier logins at open hotspots – and a QWERTY keyboard, along with support for Adobe EPUB and PDF formats with DRM. iriver reckon the Story HD will last for up to three weeks on a single charge. No word on pricing, but it’ll be available in Q2 2011.

Press Release:

iriver Unveils The World’s Highest Resolution 6” eBook Reader At CES 2011

iriver Teams Up With LG Display To Introduce The iriver Story HD eBook Reader With The Best Legibility Ever, Wi-Fi and Rapid Response

Irvine, CA — iriver, the award-winning producer of stylish digital devices, unveils the new iriver Story HD eBook at CES 2011, the world’s first 6” XGA (768×1024) eBook reader with 63.8% more pixels and faster page turns than the competition.

The iriver Story HD provides outstanding legibility with crisp fonts, fast response and high performance with an advanced i.MX508 eReader applications processor from Freescale Semiconductor based on ARM® CortexTM technology and automatic, built-in Wi-Fi. The eBook will be able to access content through the major content partner.

The Story HD will also be equipped with the Easy Wi-Fi Network (www.easywifi.com) feature so that users can access any open or subscribed Wi-Fi hot spots automatically without log-in process. Easy WiFi is the world’s largest WiFi network, and with the network supporting thousands of providers, users can also personalize access by extending Easy WiFi to any personal WiFi accounts as well. The service features a map to locate hot spots, classified by capability. Users can find hot spots, get connected, and personalize access.

Chulmin Lee (COO of iriver Ltd. and President of iriver Inc.), said, “iriver is excited to unveil the iriver Story HD at CES as a world’s first. No other eBook features a higher resolution, and users will appreciate fast page-turn performance and the chic design that is the hallmark of iriver. ”

The slim and lightweight e-reader features the signature; sleek, iriver style, QWERTY keypad, a curve with two-tone colors at the front and back for easy grip and slim design. The Story HD has buttons located from the side to the center of the keypad, featuring the up/down layout instead of the right/left design to make the unit more user friendly than other eBooks – other models feature the right/left buttons for flipping pages.

The iriver Story HD has a 3-week battery life, making it ideal for travel, and supports Adobe EPUB and PDF formats with DRM.

In June 2010, iriver and LG Display established a joint venture for the OEM development production and sales of e-Books. Iriver is responsible for product design, accumulated knowledge on e-book technology, including designs and platform development, as well as technical assistance within the joint-venture. LG Display, with its global sales network and world class production skills, provides a stable supply of e-book displays, such as electronic paper displays (EPD).

The iriver Story HD will be competitively priced and available in the second quarter of 2011.

About iriver, Inc.
iriver Inc. is the award-winning producer of iriver digital A/V devices, owned by iriver, Ltd., the global digital A/V product powerhouse. Since its founding in 1999, iriver has become renowned for its product innovation, style-driven technology, and track record of market dominance. The company’s ever expanding digital product lines include: Multimedia Devices (MP3. MP4, PMP, DMB), Network Devices (Home Media Center, Wi-Fi Network, Navigation products) and Content Devices (E-Dictionary, E-Book). For more information on iriver and its product lines, please visit: www.iriver.com.

The exec goes on to criticize color reproduction of the incipient color display technologies, suggesting that – as happened with ink-jet printers – it will take refinement before decent picture quality is achievable. Last year, Sony CEO Howard Stringer insisted that a dedicated ereader would be more appealing than a generic tablet, despite rumors that a so-called VAIO slate was in the works.

Noguchi also pointed out the benefits of a bundled data package for the Sony readers and the Amazon Kindle, claiming that as a result he did not “think the business model of the iPad is innovative.”

Bridgestone has most recently seen its large-scale color e-paper display used in an upcoming ereader, set to go on sale in China next month. Previous prototypes of the display have supported pen-input, so we’ve a feeling Bridgestone’s screen is at the core of this particular demo unit.

There’s no word on whether we can expect an e-paper drawing table on the market, unfortunately. It seems the installation is more about showing library visitors what new technologies they can expect to shape information exchange in the future.

[via The Digital Reader]

Video demo after the cut

In addition, it makes the Liquavista panels more resilient to bangs and knocks, with the company bravely describing them as “unbreakable.”  They also require less power than a color LCD display, but have a refresh rate sufficient for smooth video, unlike traditional E Ink panels found on most current ereaders.

What the company isn’t saying is when, exactly, the prototypes will graduate to production-ready panels available to OEMs.  Nor do we know how pricing for the screens compares.

[via The Digital Reader]

Press Release:

First Liquavista Flexible Display Prototype – October 2010

Demonstrates true versatility of electrowetting display technology

26 October 2010 – Eindhoven – Today, Liquavista BV., announced the creation of the first flexible electrowetting displays. These prototypes demonstrate yet another dimension to the versatility of Liquavista’s display technology, adding lower weight, robustness and conformability to the bright, colourful low power video capabilities.

“We’re really excited to be able to demonstrate yet another significant benefit of electrowetting display technology with the development of these prototypes.” Said Guy Demuynck, CEO Liquavista. “Bringing to market a unique display that can run video in color at low power and has the added advantage of an unbreakable screen which is lightweight, thin, flexible and robust will enable consumer electronics manufacturers to increase the durability of devices, reduce manufacturing costs and create new product designs to open up new markets.

“This new prototype is a first important step in paving the way for high volume manufacture of displays on flexible substrates” added Johan Feenstra, Liquavista’s CTO and Founder, “This clearly demonstrates that electrowetting technology is not only compatible with standard glass substrates but can in fact be manufactured on any substrate. The pace at which we have been able to continue to show advanced technology features is further proof of the simplicity and versatility of our technology.”

Liquavista’s displays are based on the principles of electrowetting and bring bright and colourful images and video that ensures excellent indoor and outdoor readability but uses dramatically less battery power. The technology is uniquely suited for colour and video electronic paper displays because of its very high reflectivity and its intrinsically fast video-rate switching speed. It is ideal for manufacture on flexible substrates as it does not require high temperature processing, has no demanding encapsulation requirements and is independent on cell gap variations.

In the future, consumers will want products that not only support full color and video but offer readability in all lighting conditions and gives them the freedom and portability of paper. Liquavista’s displays possess all the features to fulfil this desire.

If you’ve been under the proverbial rock for the past few months, Pixel Qi’s screen goes from working as a regular LCD indoors to an e-ink style epaper display outdoors.  Jesse says the indoor performance is just like “a normal laptop display” while taken outside “it’s almost as bright as a Kindle screen.”

Video plays back as you’d expect, even in the outdoor mode, though of course you lose the color vibrancy.  What we’re now hoping to hear is what sort of battery life the Pixel Qi display allows netbooks to achieve.

[via NotebookItalia]

If you want a better analogy, E Ink reckon that their previous-gen Vizplex screens were similar to text on newspaper, while Pearl is more like a paperback book.  It also boosts detail and reduces jagged edges on fonts and images.

As for the hardware specs, E Ink are claiming a 10:1 contrast ratio, near 180-degree viewing angle, sub-1s refresh, and between 150 and 200 dpi depending on panel size.  There are five sizes on offer: 5-, 6-, 7-, 8- and 9.7-inches, suggesting we may see the next-gen Kindle using an E Ink Pearl panel sometime later this year.

Press Release:

E Ink Announces Next Generation Display Platform

E Ink expands the marketplace for electronic reading with the introduction of E Ink Pearl, the next generation, easy-to-read electronic paper display with high contrast and sunlight readability.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–E Ink® Corporation, the leading developer and marketer of electronic paper display technology, today announced the Q2 release of its next generation display technology, Pearl. With Pearl, E Ink expands the capabilities of reflective displays, bringing electronic paper performance to the next level. With the whitest reflective displays in the industry, and a contrast ratio now approximately 50 percent greater than today’s products, text on Pearl “pops” from the page, enabling a reading experience most similar to reading text on printed paper.

“E Ink Pearl enables further adoption with a next generation product that is a more lightweight and eco-friendly product than ordinary paper, with less eye strain and longer battery life than an LCD.”
“As the electronic reading market continues to expand, there are more opportunities for expansion not only in the eBook space, but also for eNewspapers, eMagazines and eTextbooks,” according to Felix Ho Chairman of E Ink. “E Ink Pearl enables further adoption with a next generation product that is a more lightweight and eco-friendly product than ordinary paper, with less eye strain and longer battery life than an LCD.”

“The use of electrophoretic displays for eBook readers is growing rapidly. DisplaySearch forecasts that the market value in 2010 will be $837 million, and will grow by 44 percent in 2011, reaching $1.2 billion,” according to Paul Semenza, senior vice president, DisplaySearch. “E Ink’s new technology should continue to position them at the forefront of this market segment.”

The E Ink Pearl design builds on the current generation of Vizplex designs, which is used in millions of eReader devices today. Due to a unique and proven two pigment system that is extremely stable, the current E Ink products in the market today have demonstrated long life and high reliability, enabling a whole new class of consumer products.

Enhanced Readability

Images and text become crisp on the screen as the contrast between the background and item of interest is increased. E Ink Pearl raises the bar for displays used in digital reading. This allows for eReaders to go from a contrast ratio typical of newspapers, to a higher contrast ratio typical of paperback books. The crisp text and detailed graphics also continue to remain pleasant to view when E Ink products are enjoyed outside. In addition, with 16 gray level depth, E Ink Pearl offers the sharpest rendering of images and allows product developers to display images with smooth tones and rich detail.

Lowest Power

E Ink technology products are the lowest power displays in the market today for eReaders. E Ink Pearl carries forward that capability with next generation performance. In addition, compared to other technologies, E Ink is completely bi-stable, requiring no power to hold an image or page of text. Forget about bookmarks – an E Ink display can hold your page and save your battery life for weeks or even months, so you can pick up right where you left off.

Widest Ecosystem

E Ink has partnered with top tier semiconductor companies to provide a best-in-class ecosystem of supporting electronics products. Tier one semiconductor providers such as Epson, Freescale, Marvell and Texas Instruments have created integrated circuits that will support the Pearl platform. These ICs include display drivers and power management products (PMIC). With these partnerships, E Ink has continued to advance the state-of-the-art and provide design flexibility to product manufacturers.

About E Ink Holdings Inc.

Founded in 1992 by Taiwan’s leading papermaking and printing group YFY (1907.TW), E Ink Holdings Inc. “E Ink” (8069.TW) is the pioneer TFT and ePaper business in Taiwan. Its corporate philosophy aims to deliver revolutionary products, user experiences, and environmental benefits through advanced technology development. This vision has led to its continuous investments in the field of ePaper display as well as its 2008 acquisition of Hydis Technologies, manufacturer of the world’s best wide viewing angle LCDs and its 2009 acquisition of E Ink Corp., the worldwide leader in ePaper. Listed in Taiwan’s OTC market and the Luxembourg market, E Ink is now the world’s largest supplier of displays to the eBook market.

The first output from the L&I plant will carry the iriver brand, though technical details of the model itself are unclear.  It’ll likely have a monochrome e-paper display, however; LG Display reckon they’ll grab the number one spot for color and flexible EPD by 2012.  No word on when the first ereader device will be available, however.

[via The Digital Reader]

Press Release:

Iriver – LG Display Establish joint venture for e-book business

Iriver and LG Display financed a total of 5 million dollars to establish a joint-venture company in Iriver’s China Plant

Operating an ODM and OEM system to manufacture e-book reader

Develop and produce leading e-book readers in the global market by generating synergy in the technology and manufacturing aspects

Iriver and LG Display have agreed to establish a joint venture company, ‘L&I Electronic Technology (Dongguan) Ltd.’ in China to expand their e-book business.

Each Iriver and LG Display will finance 49% and 51% of the joint venture company, respectively, totaling up to 5 million dollars. The business will be founded on original equipment manufacturing (OEM) and original development manufacturing (ODM) systems to develop e-books and provide production services.

Iriver is responsible for product design, accumulated knowledge on e-book technology, including designs and platform development, as well as technical assistance within the joint-venture. And Iriver will be the first customer for the joint venture. LG Display, with its global sales network and world class production skills, will be in charge of providing a stable supply of e-book displays, such as electronic paper displays (EPD) to the joint venture.

Iriver expects to gain a stronger market presence in both the domestic and global e-book markets as it will gain a price competitive e-book reader supplier from the new relationship. The prospect for LG Display also seems bright. It will stand out from its competitors by securing a stable distribution line for its e-book displays, while also making its debut in the final product business.

Jae Woo Lee, CEO of Iriver, said, “The joint-venture is significant in that it lays the foundation for a more stable and competitive manufacturing line. If we succeed in generating a synergy between Iriver and LG Display, our joint-venture company will grow to become the market leader with unrivaled competitive power in e-book development and production business.

LG Display’s Executive Vice President and Head of Mobile/OLED Business Unit Mr. Eddie Yeo said, “LG Display decided to establish a joint venture with iriver to supply customers with more competitive products as part of our upstream-downstream business transformation strategy. LG Display will utilize its advanced EPD technologies to achieve early commercial production of color and flexible EPD and reach the global No.1 position by 2012.”

Obviously the primary function of the ereader is for consuming large-scale digital magazines, but according to DigiTimes the e-Magazine also supports pen-input.  That would allow documentation to be annotated.  Meanwhile battery life is tipped at around 6,000 page turns, which Delta say are completed faster than the displays of rival E Ink.

According to Delta executive Hui Lee, the next goal is richer, more saturated colors using particle-based display technologies.  That isn’t likely to emerge for the next two to three years, however.  No pricing for the Delta e-Magazine has been given, though Lee suggested that some publishers might offer the ereader free with a two- or three-year magazine subscription.

[via MobileRead forums]

Meanwhile it’s also more power frugal than regular LCD, with Liquavista claiming users will see up to 4x the battery life compared to traditional panels.  It’s based on the company’s electrowetting technology which, while sounding like the experience you’d have losing bladder control while lying on an electric blanket, is actually a manufacturing technique that is 100-percent compatible with traditional LCD production.

Unfortunately, while Pixel Qi display panels are expected to show up in devices on the market soon, Liquavista’s LiquivistaVivid displays won’t be commercialised until 2010/2011.  Possible products include ereaders and notebooks, though there’s no word on which manufacturers Liquavista might be working with.

[via Lesen.net]

Press Release:

Liquavista launches ground-breaking transflective product platform

LiquavistaVivid offers the next generation of transflective displays with high performance monochrome reading combined with the vibrant colors of tv-like quality images

20 May 2010 – Liquavista BV, today announced the launch of its next product platform LiquavistaVivid. Bringing a level of performance unparalleled by other transflective displays, LiquavistaVivid is the ultimate, highly versatile, intelligent adaptive display; specifically developed to support a broad range of feature rich, multi-functional consumer electronic devices.

“With LiquavistaVivid consumers can now experience an intelligent, adaptive display that offers the highest levels of optical performance, whether in paperlike eReading applications, or hi-fidelity multimedia. Eliminating the compromises necessary with other technologies and, supporting true mobility. No other technology can offer these levels of performance, intelligence and versatility!” stated Guy Demuynck, Liquavista’s CEO. ”We offer the ultimate, durable full multimedia experience: natural vivid colors in video and photographic applications to paper like quality eReading, and the freedom to use the same device indoors and outdoors with no compromise on image quality, readability or power consumption.”

LiquavistaVivid offers the best high brightness monochrome reading experience both indoors and outdoors, while also offering hi-fidelity video and super-rich colors on demand. Depending on environment and application, LiquavistaVivid displays can intelligently switch from a sharp, paperlike monochrome mode, to a vivid color-rich multimedia mode, with TV like color in order to provide the highest level of performance in each intelligent user mode. Each mode comes with seamless interactivity and hi-fidelity video capability. As with all Liquavista technology platforms, LiquavistaVivid displays come with the added benefit of the widest dynamic addressing range of any display technology. This allows Liquavista displays to support hi-fidelity video without compromising on power, whilst at the same time supporting ultra-low power static reading modes.

“LiquavistaVivid displays adapt to the consumers needs by offering saturated colors in addition to a great reading experience.” Added Johan Feenstra, Liquavista’s CTO “Furthermore, the very low power consumption enables users to be truly mobile by benefitting from longer operating batteries or lighter devices due to less battery capacity being required. Device makers will no longer need large battery packs on the one hand and compromised display performance on the other.

“The arrival of LiquavistaVivid represents the next step in our roadmaps and demonstrates that electrowetting is a highly versatile 3-mode display technology, just like LCD, capable of significantly improving on performance in all modes, truly making this LCD 2.0.” added Guy, “Our full range of products brings increased advantages such as low power and up to four times the performance over LCD and is the ultimate choice for consumer electronics manufacturers. It offers the best choice for the consumers – a life without compromises on battery lifetime, readability or outdoor viewing.

LiquavistaVivid combines a high brightness reflective mode with a brilliant high contrast, high brightness transmissive mode, based on Field-Sequential Color principles. When operated in reflective mode, the same high front of screen performance as LiquavistaBright displays is produced. On the other hand, when the backlight is operated, the display is capable of showing vivid colors without compromising the battery’s life thanks to the high efficiency of the electrowetting optical switch and to the power management algorithms.

Based on the principles of electrowetting Liquavista’s LCD 2.0 product ranges offer a full spectrum of choice for manufacturers. Combined with the 100% compatibility with existing LCD display manufacturing equipment and processes, our partners can quickly re-use their manufacturing assets and bring exciting, highly differentiated products to life with enhanced usability and performance.

Liquavista are developing three technology platforms, LiquavistaBright™, LiquavistaColor™ and LiquavistaVivid™ planned for product implementation throughout 2010/2011.

Liquavista will be showing the latest prototypes of the LiquavistaVivid product at SID 2010, 25 –27 May, Seattle Washington on stand 405.

Other than having the best color image quality in the e-paper realm, the new Fujitsu screen also boasts a 7:1 contrast ratio, which is a three times improvement compared to the previous version of the tech. The screen also has an image rewrite speed that is twice as fast as the rewrite speed on previous versions of the screen at 0.7 seconds.

Fujitsu will be showing off the new screen at its Japanese Fujitsu Forum 2010. A color screen for e-paper is a very cool invention and will make e-readers much more popular, but I think this would have been better if it landed on the market ahead of the iPad and similar tablets. The colors in the Fujitsu screen still seem very washed out to my eyes.

The system apparently boasts fast response times, with Bridgestone claiming a 0.2s response to charge change (though that’s when in air, not in suspension).  As well as allowing the panel to bend, the plastic construction is being billed as safer than regular glass screens.  Bridgestone also had a touchscreen-integrated battery powered tablet prototype using the QR-LPD display, though there’s no talk of a commercial release.

[via The Digital Reader]

To be fair, the desktop-bound device is pretty cool in its own way.  Intended to sit on the desks of financial wizards, the tablet uses a wireless connection to receive updates such as adverts and currency news.  It’s also removable, so you can pick it up for easier reading.

So far there are only six prototypes in the world, but we’re guessing NEC won’t be satisfied with that.  The e-paper has a 3 second refresh rate, and will hopefully be winging its way to ereaders soon; IREX already have a 10.2-inch (diagonal) ereader, the DR1000S, but that only runs at 1024 x 1280 resolution.

According to Chong, the Wistron device will be around the size of a business card, and have a pull-out display.  It’s likely that means a fold-around display rather than a true, completely furled panel as we’ve seen in some of the more outlandish prototypes.

What’s unclear is whether the Wistron version will have embedded wireless connectivity, as Polymer Vision’s original Readius design did.  Earlier this year, before the buyer was publicly known, it was suggested that the target market would shift from smartphones to ebook readers; even so, with the proliferation of wireless-connected ebook devices, it seems sensible to keep some form of cellular UMTS connection in place for mobile ebook downloads.

Also unclear is exactly what the Wistron-led company will be developing.  Polymer Vision’s first product was to be the Readius, a smartphone/MID device with a foldable 5-inch e-paper display, integrated 3G, Bluetooth and more.  Back when the sale was announced, it was suggested that the focus would shift from the competitive smartphone sector to wirelessly-connected ebooks instead.

The Polymer Vision team are now working in Wistron’s Mobile Business Group, and the expectation is still that foldable e-paper will reach mass production.  The company was initially spun-out from a Philips research project back in 2006.  More Readius hands-on images here.

The flexible panel is, AUO claim, unbreakable, using Sipix Microcup technology to allow for similar bending possibilities as real paper.  Even when bent it can display 16 levels of greyscale, has a 9:1 contrast ratio and 33-percent reflectance; as with other e-paper products it only requires power when the on-screen image is changed, not to maintain it.

As for the 20-inch panel, AUO expect that to be used for public information displays, though the mockup of it as a huge, broadsheet-style newspaper certainly are tempting.  It, too, supports 16 levels of greyscale, and requires less than 2W of power.  The EPD is ready to go into mass production now, while the flexible display will begin sampling in 2010 and mass production shortly after.  AUO say the 6-inch panel size is only a demonstration choice, and that their roll-to-roll manufacturing process means they can create custom display sizes for individual clients.

Those large sizes will follow the company’s 6- to 9-inch e-paper panels, which should see mass shipments beginning in Q3 2009.  These will be available in in-cell or on-cell touch panel versions, for pen and finger input, and build on AUO’s fifth-generation production lines.

Shipments of e-labels – smaller-scale e-paper used to display dynamically changing price and transit labels used in retail and other segments – have already begin, using AUO’s fourth-gen production facilities.  However the company posted a net loss in its Q209 financial report, with revenue up NT$82.5bn ($2.51bn) but losses of NT$6.6bn ($201m).  Back in June AUO demonstrated a 6-inch dual-screen ebook reader with capacitive touchscreens.

Panels up to A4 in size have been demonstrated, and Bridgestone also plan to offer a color version which layers the monochrome e-paper with an RGBW-type color filter; that was demonstrated back in April.  Interestingly, the speedy refresh speed is not, apparently, down to improvements in the e-paper material itself, but in the driving method; full details are unknown, but Bridgestone have described it as changing the pattern of applying voltage to “reduce waste”.

Bridgestone intend to announce more details of their ebook production plans in July or August this year.  No word on how pricing compares to that of E Ink’s product range.

[via MobileRead]

The combined company will continue to supply electrophoretic display technology, which accounts for more than 90-percent of e-paper displays; E Ink is the primary supplier of such technology.  Meanwhile, PVI expects to release touchscreens and flexible e-paper, the latter said to reach the market later this year.

PVI has already acquired Philips Electronics’ e-paper business, back in 2005, and last year bought a controlling stake in the company responsible for producing the transistor backplanes used in e-paper technology.  Presuming no regulatory or shareholder complications, the E Ink deal will be finalized at some point in Q4 2009.

[via E-Ink-Info]

PVI chairman Scott Liu told reporters that, in an attempt to compete for market share with Amazon, he expects Sony to introduce their own larger-format ereader.  While the company has not confirmed it themselves, PVI is believed to provide the e-paper panel used by Amazon in their 9.7-inch Kindle DX. 

The color e-paper PVI is developing uses E Ink technology and color filters to answer one of the most common criticisms of current ereaders, that they can only display grayscale text and images.  PVI have confirmed that they will be launching various sizes of B&W e-paper this year.

[via MobileRead]

This display is made from the Bridgestone QR-LPD electronic powder, a color filter and the Wacom electromagnetic induction tablet. But unlike other e-paper displays, it also has a fast refresh speed to make pen input possible. The refresh rate is now 0.8 seconds as opposed to up to 15 seconds on the previous model.

We don’t know at this point how the company improved the panel but it seems to be related to the drive tech. This makes it possible for the pet to write smoothly on the display’s surface. We don’t know when this new Bridgestone display will be released or how much it’ll cost, but we’ll keep you posted.

[via Tech-On!]

Currently with twenty employees, and looking to expand that number to 40 by 2011, PETEC has a TFT backplane line, formulation lab and a 600m2 class 1,000 clean room.  Meanwhile a second site has a flexible electronics substate facility, which has already been responsible for producing flexible solar panels and TFT displays.

Potential commercial ranges include flexible displays, whether AMOLED, flexible LCD or e-paper, together with photovoltaic cells for power, OLED lighting technology and active sensors including touch-controls with printed or coated electronics.  More at the PETEC site.

[via OLED-Info]

The SV-100B E-paper measures at 15.5mm in thickness and reads electronic documents via a proprietary application that converts data from PC to a “printed” document format that’s compatible with the device. The documents can be stored and secured in a 2Gb microSD card with a 128-bit AES encryption and password protected locking security feature. It provides roughly about 10,000 sheets of A4-size documents, and the lithium-ion battery life lasts up to 83 hours or 5,000 pages at the reading rate of 1 page per minute.

The Brother’s SV-100B E-paper will deliver in Japan on June 1st, and will be sold though company’s online store at ¥139,800 (~ US$1,423).

[impress via nikkie]

PVI themselves have declined to comment on the rumor, but it’s believed that the recent surge in mainstream e-book reader awareness – fueled no doubt by the Amazon Kindle and Kindle 2 - has prompted the company to accelerate their manufacturing plans.  PVI holds the exclusive license to manufacturing technology developed by Philips Research, and promise 7,000 page turns per charge in a more robust and compact casing.

Mass production of non-flexible 6-inch e-paper PVI displays is already underway.  It’s expected that this new range of flexible displays could also include PVI’s Touch EPD technology, which uses force sensors underneath the e-paper layer to recognize touch from a finger or stylus.  It’s roughly as accurate as a resistive touchscreen, but as the layer is beneath rather than above the display panel there’s no reduction in light output.

[via MobileRead]

A new wireless network was set up to feed information to the two panels, which will be on display until January 29th.  The larger screen – which is in fact made up of forty 48 x 96-pixel panels, adding up to a total 240 x 768 resolution – consumes around 24W, while the smaller – made up of three stacked 48 x 96-pixel panels, adding up to 144 x 96 resolution – consumes around 9W.  Each has a pixel pitch of 4mm.

The e-paper was supplied by Toppan Printing Co Ltd, while the project as a whole was implemented by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Kanto Bureau of Telecommunications.  It remains to be seen whether e-paper will be adopted as permanent signage.

Check out demo videos of the e-ink Fennec setup after the cut

Right now memory seems to be the constraining factor; in the second video below, you can see how fast the Midori-webkit-gtk browser runs on the relatively meagre Gumstix computer.  The Gumstix E Ink provide has a Marvell XScale PXA255 processor together with a Bluetooth transceiver, USB, a serial port and an MMC card reader. 

Next up is enabling some form of on-screen keyboard, which requires getting hildon built.  Then he’ll be able to use it without any form of external keyboard.

Mozilla Firefox Mobile “Fennec” e-ink demo:

Midori-webkit-gtk e-ink demo:

[via MobileRead]

Samsung’s take on the e-paper technology uses carbon-nanotube electrodes in order to power the display. This color carbon nanotube active matrix electrophoretic display works in a very specific way. It actually moves around pigment particles by means of an electric field.

The pigment particles are charged and this is actual the first color display like this that is fairly large. At 14.3-inches, it could make for an excellent e-book reader display. It is also flexible and doesn’t require very much power to get going. Pretty cool!

[via Gizmodo]