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.
Quote:
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!!
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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.