Quote:
Originally Posted by radleyp
Query: eink is a technology developed, I think, by Philips and Sony. How can this company produce eink screens, as seems to be implied, quite easily? Wouldn't it need a license and, if so, how can it be sure to get it?
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Since you asked, here's a brief history lesson
Electrophoretic displays were first developed in the 70's, at MatsushiIta Electronics. However they were abandoned because of various problems.
A group at MIT's Media Lab developed a means to solve many of those problems and spun out to form E Ink in 1998. Philips partnered with E Ink to develop and manufacture the displays used in the Sony Librie, however Philips has gotten out of the display fab business, and licensed/sold the electrophoretic backplane technology to PVI, who is currently the sole* production manufacturer of the bare panels used in the Sony PRS, Amazon Kindle, Bookeen, etc. So anyone is free to buy displays from PVI provided they jump through whatever hoops PVI requires of their customers. This company is simply buying screens from PVI attaching them to whatever embedded computer they chose, and putting it all in a nice package**.
*Irex being a Philips spinout has a different OEM for their backplanes (I'm not sure who it is).
** Gross understatement of the work and effort required to produce an ebook.