Quote:
Originally Posted by jbcohen
I read an article in PC World last night about the newest round of micro processors from Intel and AMD. This article says that due to the new processors we can look for new kindles, Sony PRSs, B&N Nook's that have 1) better resolution on the screens (they will be better at showing graphs, illustrations and digarams then current models are); and 2) have lower power rquirements (your batteries will last approximatly 30% longer then your current models do). I have been reading about work going on in the memory chip market that explained that the work has not yielded any real improvement in speed as yet but may do so in the future. Showing that your Kindle 4 will not be any faster to load the books then the kindle 3 is, same goes for the future Sony PRS readers (what ever model number Sony choses to give the new models) and the new Nook Color 2 (I am assuming that B&N will make use of Amazon's naming convention). The article said to expect the new processors to be pressed into service in new gagets (code word for electronic book readers) within two months.
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I do not want to come across as dismissive but PC World is not nor has it ever been the place to go for technical expertise or advice. Unless things have changed significantly I would not put much stock in their analysis of the situation. Existing CPU used by device makers are not running on the sort of architecture needed to support Intel or even AMD processor. This would mean tossing all investment in the BIOS and chipsets already in use.
Just don't think companies are going to be willing to just dump all they have invested. I am sure Amazon spoke with both AMD and Intel only to be rebuked. So development evolved on less idea CPUs. We might see new slate devices running these new CPUs from Intel and AMD but eink is not likely to benefit to a significant degree as the reason the screens are slowish is the display list device not the CPU. As the display controller evolved so has page turn technology. Eink panels have been shown to be fully about to run video though not a full page video which also points that its not the screen limiting speed. It all falls back on the display controller unless of course some of the processing is pushed off onto the CPU from the display controller. I honestly am not that intimate with the details of processing on readers running eink panels so I am not sure if there is a graphics subsystem to handle the processing for the screen or it's sent to the CPU then back to the display controller for final processing before sending it off to the screen.
It would be great to see more powerful reader devices if a person needs one, but for recreational reading the current technology is sufficient for the task. It is only when looking to add functions that there exists some significant processing short comings.
Oh and about resolution, as I understand the status quo, they have hit a physical limiting barrier due to the physics of the eink design and the particle size. That is one of the challenges in trying to design a color panel using the same design as current panels from eink. A fancy new faster CPU can't, in general, change the laws of physics.
Were that it could.
