PCWorld: Bye-bye Kindle, E-reader Screens Coming for Netbooks

[mishuxp]

"Netbook makers will soon play a larger role in the e-reader market if start-up Pixel Qi has anything to say about it.

The company, founded by former One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) CTO Mary Lou Jepsen, will show off engineering samples of its first screen product at Computex Taipei 2009 next week, and IDG News Service was able to catch a first look on Friday.

The first Pixel Qi product, called 3qi, is a 10.1-inch netbook screen designed to work in three modes: a black-and-white e-ink mode for reading text documents and e-books, and two color modes, designed for use indoors or in bright sunlight, that are more suitable for Web surfing and video playback.

E-ink mode extends battery life by shutting off the backlight, and is intended for reading e-books, documents, Web sites or blogs and other text-based material.

The screens should be in netbooks and on store shelves by the end of this year, said Jepsen. Giving netbooks new screens capable of making them e-readers could make them compelling holiday presents, for price and functionality alone."

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/16572..._netbooks.html

[desertgrandma]

Wow. BTW.....your link isn't working (at least for Firefox)

[JSWolf]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/16572..._netbooks.html

[mishuxp]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Wow. BTW.....your link isn't working (at least for Firefox)

10x.

This is really really WOW

[Tuna]

Pixel Qi are good at generating publicity, but a netbook is not an ebook. It's not convenient to hold open; it's a lot bulkier than a dedicated reader, never mind a book; it doesn't have a good user interface for easy book reading and it doesn't have the battery life - even with a low powered screen.

This is great news for netbooks, but ebooks don't have much to worry about yet.

[Greg Anos]

It's the all-in-one Gizmo. Computer, e-book reader, PMP, web browser, ect. If Pixel Qui can get a netbook builder to make a pivoting netbook with this screen, I'll buy it!

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Tuna

Pixel Qi are good at generating publicity, but a netbook is not an ebook. It's not convenient to hold open; it's a lot bulkier than a dedicated reader, never mind a book; it doesn't have a good user interface for easy book reading and it doesn't have the battery life - even with a low powered screen.

This is great news for netbooks, but ebooks don't have much to worry about yet.

And turning off the backlight does not make a screen e-Ink. E-Ink is a company that makes the technology we have grown to associate with eBook Readers but just because you can read something in daylight does not make it E-Ink. There is a lot of fluff and errors in the report.

Dale

[Greg Anos]

Agreed. Still if it has the same readability without the back light as e-ink, the technology doesn't matter. I suspect that you wouldn't have the e-ink lag time for page turn either. But until I see the product, I can't answer. I would dearly love to see the new screen at SID, but Pixel Qui's product show is still private...

[=X=]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

And turning off the backlight does not make a screen e-Ink. E-Ink is a company that makes the technology we have grown to associate with eBook Readers but just because you can read something in daylight does not make it E-Ink. There is a lot of fluff and errors in the report.

Dale

The term E-Ink is becoming synonymous with screens that work under direct sunlight and have low power consumption.

There is another post here where the original poster is trying to get us all to use the term ePaper instead of eInk, since the former is the more accurate term.

=X=

[Daithi]

I second RSE! (That is I'd buy it.)

[mklynds]

If they are able to play video on it, it would seem that there should be no lag in page changing. Am I right? This sounds like some really cool tech and I will definitely have to look into it some more.

[Tuna]

Originally Posted by =X=

The term E-Ink is becoming synonymous with screens that work under direct sunlight and have low power consumption.

There is a difference between Pixel Qi's screen, which is low power for an LCD display, and an E-Ink screen which consumes no power at all when it's not updating.

[taosaur]

I've been making this prediction since before I knew about PixelQi, but the last week or so I'm coming around to the view that ereaders, netbooks, tablets and phones will continue to share the market for devices, with more individuals reading on netbooks but more books-per-user sold to ereader owners.

Reading people's experiences on MR, it's pretty clear that there are no fixed cons to either device, just different needs and priorities for different lifestyles. I prefer the robust feature set of a netbook ideal, and 98.06% of the time my daily routine means battery life is not an issue. I didn't get it principally for ebooks, but it does meet that need. I'm guessing most people who pick up a netbook with ereading in mind would not have been in the market for a dedicated reader in the same price range anyway.

[RickyMaveety]

No thanks. As long as the ereading devices are as thin and light as they are, there is no way I am lugging around a laptop (or even my netbook) in my purse all the time, every day. I'll stick with my Kindle.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by =X=

The term E-Ink is becoming synonymous with screens that work under direct sunlight and have low power consumption.

There is another post here where the original poster is trying to get us all to use the term ePaper instead of eInk, since the former is the more accurate term.

=X=

Certainly this will happen if nobody points it out that they are different. The products are still new and there defacto names haven't settled yet IMHO.

Dale