better models in the next future?

[ersott]

When do you think will be any e-ink new models with better features?

I´m thinking better resolution principally, and colour screen.

Do you think we have notices in autum?, or perhaps before christmas holidays.

Thanks.

[HarryT]

This is not "News". Please do not start non-news threads in the "News" forum.

Thanks.

[abookreader]

My guess is Amazon will announce a new Kindle with the front-lighting in early fall and maybe a next generation Fire. Since Barnes and Noble just released a new nook - I don't expect anything from them this year. With the Microsoft partnership I think the nook Tablet will probably get some upgrades within a year. I haven't heard of anybody coming out with color anytime soon beyond the tablets.

[applesauce]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Ectaco-NO...#ht_904wt_1179

is what I found tho I am not sure how e ink colour is possible and may be reading this wrong. the price tag is ummmmm.

applesauce

[Yapyap]

Originally Posted by applesauce

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Ectaco-NO...#ht_904wt_1179

is what I found tho I am not sure how e ink colour is possible and may be reading this wrong. the price tag is ummmmm.

applesauce

The Ectaco jetBook Color has been around and in use for several months now, so it's definitely real and possible. It's using a Triton colour eInk screen, IIRC.

http://www.ectaco.com/jetBook_Color/ has more information about it.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

The Ectaco jetBook Color has been around and in use for several months now, so it's definitely real and possible. It's using a Triton colour eInk screen, IIRC.

http://www.ectaco.com/jetBook_Color/ has more information about it.

The way it works, though, is that it's still a normal black-and-white eInk display, with a colour filter array (CFA) placed on top of it. The CFA divides each pixel into four coloured sub pixels (red, green, blue and white), resulting in a halving of the linear resolution of the display.

Feedback on the Triton display has been poor. Probably best to wait for "proper" colour eInk, rather than the CFA approach.

[Yapyap]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The way it works, though, is that it's still a normal black-and-white eInk display, with a colour filter array (CFA) placed on top of it. The CFA divides each pixel into four coloured sub pixels (red, green, blue and white), resulting in a halving of the linear resolution of the display.

Feedback on the Triton display has been poor. Probably best to wait for "proper" colour eInk, rather than the CFA approach.

Yes, I agree - I just pointed out that it's real and exists (and it is a mass-production eInk reader, not just a working prototype).

The high price (although it's a large screen, which isn't insignificant) and the critical feedback are keeping me from being really interested in this specific model, but it's probably a good indicator of what's currently possible (and may perhaps be improved in the relatively near future).

[ProfCrash]

I would be surprised to see color e-ink screens. They seem to be expensive to develop and with more and more people buying tablets, it might be deemed too expensive to create a color e-ink screen. Most books are written using black and white text so color is not really needed.

Text books and the like could use color but I see those on tablets like the Fire, Nook Tablet, Vox, and IPad then I do an e-reader. The tablets have color and tned to have larger screens and interactive options that are going to be useful for a textbook.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I would be surprised to see color e-ink screens. They seem to be expensive to develop and with more and more people buying tablets, it might be deemed too expensive to create a color e-ink screen. Most books are written using black and white text so color is not really needed.

Text books and the like could use color but I see those on tablets like the Fire, Nook Tablet, Vox, and IPad then I do an e-reader. The tablets have color and tned to have larger screens and interactive options that are going to be useful for a textbook.

Magazines are the really big market for large-screen colour devices. There's big money there - the average person spends much more on magazines than one books. A large-screen colour eInk device, with its low power requirements and long battery life, could be very desirable as a magazine reader, especially when flexible displays finally make an appearance.

[ProfCrash]

I don't think a large screen color e-ink reader is going to happen.

The DXG is probably a massive failure. It is too expensive for most people and deemed to be too heavy by a decent number of folks. They prefer the 6 inch screen. I just don't see that there is a market for a 10 inch color e-ink reader. If the DXG is not selling well, and the lack of updates over the course of three years indicates that it is not selling well, imagine how well a 10 inch color e-ink screen is going to sell given that it is going to be more expensive then the current model.

I can see the 7 inch LCD screen devices taking off and being used for magazines, but they can be used for a lot of other things as well.

I don't think most folks are worried about the battery life, they recharge every night. I don't think that there are so many people that read mainly magazines who would rush out to by a $400 color e-ink screen just for reading their magazines when they can spend $150 less and get devices that do more.

[HarryT]

But a "roll up" large-screen reader could be a different matter altogether. Imagine a narrow cylinder that you pulled a screen out from. Portable and highly convenient. Such things will be doable with eInk on a flexible plastic substrate.

The next few years should be an interesting time for portable readers. I'm sure there will be a lot of flops, but I'd expect a few successes, too.

[Yapyap]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I don't think a large screen color e-ink reader is going to happen.

Except for the Ectaco jetBook Color (9.7'' screen, Triton colour eInk) linked to above? Possible quality issues aside, it has happened, exists, is in mass production and is apparently in use in schools in some countries.

Of course that's not to say that another, improved quality large-screen model with some other colour eInk screen may happen in the future, if everyone decides the jetBook was a flop also for its intended use (academic).

[ersott]

Originally Posted by HarryT

This is not "News". Please do not start non-news threads in the "News" forum.

Thanks.

I'm sorry, you're alright

[fjtorres]

The problem with big screens--eink or lcd--is that they are currently built on glass substrates and that makes them fragile. The bigger the screen, the more susceptible to bending damage and the more reinforcement they need, which means extra weight.
Display makers have been working on metal foil and (better) plastic substrates for displays and we're just starting to see the first low volume production runs for B&W eink on plastic.
If they can get the process running at high enough yields, we might see it applied to large format B&W some time *next* year. Color is further away. High volume (low cost) is even further out.
The key problem for large format *color* is that LCD and battery tech is already close to offering adequate battery life so it won't take much incremental improvement to get a dedicated color reader with "all-day" battery life. But the price and weight would be too close to that tablet space and most consumers would more likely opt for a slightly higher price and full tablet features.

Realistically; good color eink is years away and when it arrives it may find the way blocked by LCD at the high end so its future will remain tied to the low end. Which means that the future of dedicated readers will be small and cheap for the forseeable future. (3-5 years)

[RainingLemur]

I would love to see Amazon come out with a color eInk/Mirasol display, possibly with some Flex lighting. (Pipe dream, I'm sure)