Bridgestone announces flexible touchscreen color e-reader

[kikar]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/27/b...olor-e-reader/

"Based on a technology Bridgestone calls Quick-response Liquid Powder, the company's all-color touchscreen e-book reader is about 5.8mm thick, features a 13.1-inch touch-sensitive e-paper display (with 4,096 colors and a refresh rate of about 0.8 seconds), and some sort of unspecified mobile phone connectivity."

[Chiron]

Wow, if that comes out next year it would be great and put a lot of trouble in the big name eReader sellers

[athlonkmf]

Originally Posted by Chiron

Wow, if that comes out next year it would be great and put a lot of trouble in the big name eReader sellers

Not really. If you've followed the news lately "next year" or "starting from 2010" other parties will also introduce their color e-paper solutions.

It's just that as of now, there aren't any protohypes yet.

[badbob001]

The contrast appears to be very low, but the refresh speed, as shown in this old video, seems good:

[jswinden]

I suspect the technology will take at least a few generations to become as good as the greyscale. I think a screen like that could be very useful for tablet PC type devices. But that is way to big for a portable reading device.

I'm concerned that the trend toward do-everything type of readers will diminish the ability to simply read books. I want a good reader, not a swiss-army-knife compromised device that does a lot of things so-so and nothing well.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I suspect the technology will take at least a few generations to become as good as the greyscale. I think a screen like that could be very useful for tablet PC type devices. But that is way to big for a portable reading device.

Agree, and I really need an A4 sized tablet for academic work, so I'm very excited to see where these devices/screens go in the next couple of years.

Looks promising as from that video this could be very think and light and still have a big screen to handle any PDF, allow easy highlighting and annotation with stylus etc.

Give it a generation or two for the tech to improve and the screen to be used in robust devices that have internet, e-mail, PDA functions etc. and we'll have some very handy devices for the business/academic crowd--and others who want a multifunction tablet type device.

I'm concerned that the trend toward do-everything type of readers will diminish the ability to simply read books. I want a good reader, not a swiss-army-knife compromised device that does a lot of things so-so and nothing well.

I don't think there's anything to worry about there. There will remain a market for simple, dedicated readers. Especially as prices come down on such devices.

Some people just want to read and don't need annotation, internet, e-mail etc. and companies will put out simple e-readers for them.

There's plenty of room in the market for dedicated readers and tablets aimed more at the business/professional/academic set who can't really replace paper with current e-readers but could with a large screen tablet.

I don't think the "jack of all trades, master of none" critique really flys any more. Tech is getting better and better and doing a lot of things well in recent years from things like the iPhone to video game consoles like the PS3 being an outstanding Blu Ray player (when past consoles were terrible DVD players) etc. etc.

They have no choice but to get better at making multifunction devices given the increasing number of people who are always on the go and thus really need good multifunction devices that are portable and let them get their work done etc. from anywhere.

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I suspect the technology will take at least a few generations to become as good as the greyscale. I think a screen like that could be very useful for tablet PC type devices. But that is way to big for a portable reading device.

I'm concerned that the trend toward do-everything type of readers will diminish the ability to simply read books. I want a good reader, not a swiss-army-knife compromised device that does a lot of things so-so and nothing well.

I keep going back & forth on this. One the one hand I dislike the 'all-in-one' idea that if one part breaks I need to replace/return the whole thing. (I'm facing that now with a printer/scanner/fax. I've gotten the printer & fax working, but can't get the scanner to send the image to the PC. I think it's a software problem but they've told me to return it for repair which will leave me without a printer or fax, either.)

On the other hand, I like 'all-in-one' for portability. I much prefer taking my smart phone with me to read, browse the Web, listen to music, and more as opposed to carrying an eBook reader, an MP3 player, etc. Plus all their separate chargers if I'm traveling. (Have you seen the article about the UN defining a 'standard' charger for phones? I don't think it'll catch on, but it'd be nice.)

As for the size, it seems to me that there are two separate markets here. Some people are entirely in one market or the other while others straddle both markets depending on what they're doing-but I think there's definitely two markets.

[AJ Starr]

Originally Posted by jswinden

W5JCK.

Jack, can't send you a PM, so I'll write here hoping you will get it.

Do you know WA5QKE, Fairfield, TX?
AJ
(Send me PM if you wish)

[ziegl027]

Originally Posted by jswinden

But that is way to big for a portable reading device.
.

I disagree. It would be enormously useful both for those of us looking for a large format for technical work, but would also be appealing for those looking for recreational larger-format reading materials such as magazines with photo layouts.

[JayCeeEll]

Originally Posted by badbob001

The contrast appears to be very low

The current crop of engadget pictures seem to show reasonable contrast.

[fugazied]

Originally Posted by badbob001

The contrast appears to be very low, but the refresh speed, as shown in this old video, seems good:

That is what I expected, very low contrast. I did not expect this technology (thin flexible touch colour device) to be in the marketplace till like 2012 or something!

For them to get this to market so quickly I figured yes it must have some issues, they can't be that far ahead of other manufacturers. For me, the ultimate device is the one shown in movies like mission impossible (I think it's that movie). Basically a transparent paper thin LCD touch device which can be folded to fit in your pocket and can do everything, I suspect in the real world it would need nano technology lol

[mores]

but you can check it out sooner at FPD International 2009 in Yokohama City, Japan, starting tomorrow.

Anyone live near there?

[geneven]

Well, I could read anwhere, and of course I need a cell phone, and I need my Internet connection, and I could use something to take notes with...

So I'll just carry four devices!!

No, I won't. I'll carry one device that does all of them. The Kindle does Internet access and is a reader, both at once. So, there's not much more to go. Maybe the cell phone can be separate, but there's no way I am going to carry a separate device for every function. All in one is the ONLY way things can end up.

And this color device looked a bit washed-out to me... But it confirms my prediction that color is coming a lot faster than Amazon seemed to predict. In a year, many of us will be using color devices, and I am looking forward to seeing decent pictures, tables and maps on my reader -- you know, maps where you can actually READ the locations? Photos you can actually ENJOY. That kind of thing...

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by geneven

Well, I could read anwhere, and of course I need a cell phone, and I need my Internet connection, and I could use something to take notes with...

So I'll just carry four devices!!

No, I won't. I'll carry one device that does all of them. The Kindle does Internet access and is a reader, both at once. So, there's not much more to go. Maybe the cell phone can be separate, but there's no way I am going to carry a separate device for every function. All in one is the ONLY way things can end up.

So, I drowned my phone a few months ago. If I had been you, I'd not been able to read and surf the net anymore (I used my PDA for that, now it would be the JE100, Mini and PDA). Or take notes (PDA again). Or listen to my MP3's (MP3 player).

Me, I'd take 4 different devices for 4 different functions any day. It would be nice if some functions were on several devices (like note taking on your phone and your reader or listening to mp3's on your phone and mp3 player, etc).

[Kali Yuga]

From Engadget's own records, Bridgestone seems to have had prototypes of flexible color epaper displays dating back to at least 2006.

I can't tell for sure but it doesn't look like they really have anything in the ebook space yet. Wake me up when they have a shipping product.

Originally Posted by geneven

Well, I could read anwhere, and of course I need a cell phone, and I need my Internet connection, and I could use something to take notes with. So I'll just carry four devices!!

Gasp shudder horror shock.

• An eReader replaces, and is just as convenient (if not more so) than the paper book(s) you'd carry instead.
• I routinely commute, and walk at least an hour a day (usually more) carrying an ereader, smartphone and a netbook. It really isn't that difficult.

The idea that "all in one is the ONLY way things can end up" is patently false. We still have dedicated fax machines, copy machines and scanners despite the ease of combining the three; we still have portable digital music players -- heck, we even still have portable radios, despite the ease of integrating those functions into PDA's and smartphones. I could go on, but the reality is that it's rare that a multifunction completely eliminates a focused device.

Dedicated readers have several advantages: better reading surface, lower power requirements, ease of use. It's a lot easier to specialize a dedicated device for something like the education market, where all-day usage is necessary, and you may not want the students to have constant Internet access, IM, text messaging and so forth during class. And for the frequent readers -- who generate a disproportionate of book revenues -- a dedicated device will be preferable for the indefinite future.

Multifunction devices can be convenient, and will clearly have a role to play. But I seriously doubt that dedicated readers will disappear overnight.