Motofone to have an E Ink diskplay?

Stuart Young · 08-04-2006, 01:03 PM

I'll be upfront an say I'm not sure how accurate this news is. Over at Gearlog there's hands on info about Motorola's "new-age, cutting-edge low-cost fone." Sascha Segan writes, "The strangest thing about it is the e-ink display. It's a field of gray with numbers and characters that appear on it like digital-watch numbers, very sharply." - What I'm wondering is, is this an 'e-ink' display that we know an love, e.g. the same tech found in an iLiad and Librie etc?

Keep an eye on this link as more photo's will be available tomorrow.

Update: TadW has confirmed this is indeed an E Ink display. See the links he found from the official E Ink site: E Ink Partner Info, E Ink Motofone Press Release

TadW · 08-04-2006, 01:12 PM

Nice find! Indeed, this is an E Ink display as we know it. Why? Because it's featured on E Ink's site under the press release section.

http://www.eink.com/press/partner_releases.html

Stuart Young · 08-04-2006, 02:51 PM

Very cool. Let me update front page.

TadW · 08-05-2006, 10:18 AM

No problem. Thanks for the credits.

Stuart Young · 08-06-2006, 01:20 AM

Mobileburn has a hands-on with the e-ink Motofone.

Xtremegene · 02-19-2007, 03:56 AM

Old topic, I know, but as this was one of the phones show-cased at 3GSM this year, hopefully that means it gets released here in the USA (or at least sold unlocked by Motorola).

Maybe I'm just being too much of e-ink fanatic here, but getting this phone would, for me, take care of 90% of my current phone needs (talking and texting). I do use a phone currently that is Bluetooth-capable and has a camera, but I don't use those that much. My phone is even internet-capable, but I sure has heck don't pay for that.

Better battery life is obviously a huge plus here, but unfortunately it seems like the CDMA version (F3c) has over a little of half the talk time than the GSM version. That fact alone would make me consider jumping over to a GSM carrier (currently with Sprint), if not at least to test on a pre-paid plan. To be frank, the UI seems overly stripped down than what I'm used to, but if it works well after a small learning curve, I'd be all for it.

Antartica · 02-27-2007, 03:47 AM

Just seen the reference to the phone in jkontherun, and searched for the resolution of the screen.

The only mention of the resolution I have found is 34x43, at this site (in french):

http://www.meilleurmobile.com/mobile...rkMobileId=757

Here there are a lot of photos of the display of the phone:

http://www.geardiary.com/2007/02/24/...one-f3-review/

And my conclusions:
1. There are shadows (ghosting effect) left like the ones of the iliad and of the sony reader hinting the edges of where a number has been shown before (and it's not showed anymore): this makes me think that the display has a dpi comparable to the sony reader/iliad. And the ghosting could mean that is capable of various gray levels (as the edges of the numbers is what is causing most of the ghosting).
2. The phone seems to only address the screen as if it was an LCD with very few addressable "figures". But it's a simulation, as the asterisk "*" happens to cover in pure black the middle joints of the numbers (i.e. the central part of the "2" number).

In conclusion: nice screen but not usable for reading in it (because of the LCD simulation layer, that makes the screen not all-points-addressable) :-(.

08-04-2006, 01:03 PM	#1
Stuart Young MobileRead Editor Posts: 195 Karma: 75 Join Date: May 2006 Location: London Device: e61i / Eee PC / PRS-505	Motofone to have an e-ink Display? I'll be upfront an say I'm not sure how accurate this news is. Over at Gearlog there's hands on info about Motorola's "new-age, cutting-edge low-cost fone." Sascha Segan writes, "The strangest thing about it is the e-ink display. It's a field of gray with numbers and characters that appear on it like digital-watch numbers, very sharply." - What I'm wondering is, is this an 'e-ink' display that we know an love, e.g. the same tech found in an iLiad and Librie etc? Keep an eye on this link as more photo's will be available tomorrow. Update: TadW has confirmed this is indeed an E Ink display. See the links he found from the official E Ink site: E Ink Partner Info, E Ink Motofone Press Release

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Motofone F3 as Ebook Reader?	luqmaninbmore	Alternative Devices	3	05-11-2012 08:49 AM
At Last: Front-Lit E-Ink, Flexible E-Ink and ... E-Ink Watches!	NatCh	News	1	10-27-2007 10:50 AM
Motorola Motofone F3 with E Ink display	Bob Russell	Alternative Devices	24	05-09-2007 09:04 AM
eInk Motorola Motofone F3 for 9 Euro	joblack	News	0	05-02-2007 01:28 PM
PDA247 reviews the E Ink-based MotoFone F3	Bob Russell	Alternative Devices	9	05-01-2007 07:36 AM

08-04-2006, 01:12 PM	#2
TadW Uebermensch Posts: 2,583 Karma: 1094606 Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Italy Device: Kindle	Nice find! Indeed, this is an E Ink display as we know it. Why? Because it's featured on E Ink's site under the press release section. http://www.eink.com/press/partner_releases.html

08-04-2006, 02:51 PM	#3
Stuart Young MobileRead Editor Posts: 195 Karma: 75 Join Date: May 2006 Location: London Device: e61i / Eee PC / PRS-505	Very cool. Let me update front page.

08-05-2006, 10:18 AM	#4
TadW Uebermensch Posts: 2,583 Karma: 1094606 Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Italy Device: Kindle	No problem. Thanks for the credits.

08-06-2006, 01:20 AM	#5
Stuart Young MobileRead Editor Posts: 195 Karma: 75 Join Date: May 2006 Location: London Device: e61i / Eee PC / PRS-505	Mobileburn has a hands-on with the e-ink Motofone.

02-19-2007, 03:56 AM	#6
Xtremegene Connoisseur Posts: 66 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: TX, USA Device: Sony Reader PRS-500 --- Nokia n800	Old topic, I know, but as this was one of the phones show-cased at 3GSM this year, hopefully that means it gets released here in the USA (or at least sold unlocked by Motorola). Maybe I'm just being too much of e-ink fanatic here, but getting this phone would, for me, take care of 90% of my current phone needs (talking and texting). I do use a phone currently that is Bluetooth-capable and has a camera, but I don't use those that much. My phone is even internet-capable, but I sure has heck don't pay for that. Better battery life is obviously a huge plus here, but unfortunately it seems like the CDMA version (F3c) has over a little of half the talk time than the GSM version. That fact alone would make me consider jumping over to a GSM carrier (currently with Sprint), if not at least to test on a pre-paid plan. To be frank, the UI seems overly stripped down than what I'm used to, but if it works well after a small learning curve, I'd be all for it.

02-27-2007, 03:47 AM	#7
Antartica Evangelist Posts: 423 Karma: 1517132 Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Madrid, Spain Device: quaderno, remarkable2, yotaphone2, prs950, iliad, onhandpc, newton	Just seen the reference to the phone in jkontherun, and searched for the resolution of the screen. The only mention of the resolution I have found is 34x43, at this site (in french): http://www.meilleurmobile.com/mobile...rkMobileId=757 Here there are a lot of photos of the display of the phone: http://www.geardiary.com/2007/02/24/...one-f3-review/ And my conclusions: 1. There are shadows (ghosting effect) left like the ones of the iliad and of the sony reader hinting the edges of where a number has been shown before (and it's not showed anymore): this makes me think that the display has a dpi comparable to the sony reader/iliad. And the ghosting could mean that is capable of various gray levels (as the edges of the numbers is what is causing most of the ghosting). 2. The phone seems to only address the screen as if it was an LCD with very few addressable "figures". But it's a simulation, as the asterisk "*" happens to cover in pure black the middle joints of the numbers (i.e. the central part of the "2" number). In conclusion: nice screen but not usable for reading in it (because of the LCD simulation layer, that makes the screen not all-points-addressable) :-(.

Advert

Advert