Seiko Instruments (http://www.sii.co.jp/) (not to be confused with Seiko Epson (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10265)) and French e-paper producer Nemoptic (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9476) have entered into an agreement (http://www.nemoptic.com/content.php?section=news&cat_id=1&id_news=34) to produce LCD modules in high volumes based on the latter's bistable BiNem technology.

The high volume manufacturing of Nemoptic’s bistable LCD displays will take place at SII’s Microtechno plant, located in Akita, Japan. SII’s Microtechno plant has a worldwide reputation as one of the most modern sites for high volume production of color super-twist nematic liquid crystal displays (CSTN-LCD displays). Customers can expect to see the first units appear from the plant at end Q2 2007.
I hate to be the sceptic, but I can't help to compare Nemoptic to E Ink, and while E Ink has already a proven track record, Nemoptic is still new in the game (although the company exists since 1999). It remains to be seen if they can deliver what they promise. Did anyone say color e-paper?

[via TeleRead (http://www.teleread.org/blog/?p=6452)]

Producing a screen is nice, but what I'd like to see is the full device. Price, supported formats, design, battery... The prototype that we saw in some of the previous videos wasn't really that good looking. The good point with this technology is that unlike e-ink, you don't need a new plant. They could easily produce a whole lot of devices this year.

Edit: I'm thinking about doing a video podcast for Feedbooks. Since some of the major players are in Europe, and some of them in France (Mobipocket, Nemoptic), it might be interesting. I'll start digging a little deeper about all this... We already got the servers to host such a thing with Feedbooks and it could be interesting to create the first videocast dedicated to e-paper.

At least they were confident enough of their technology to provide a face shot of a parrot. :)

Which doesn't surprise me at all. Seiko Instruments has always impressed me with the quality of their products. This announcement actually gets me mildly excited.