iRex announces development of colour device for 2011 delivery

[Greg Anos]

This is more than the rep on the SID expo floor was willing to say. He talked about color and I asked rough time frame...and got no response.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by davidspitzer

...too much based on Irex's track record - the Kindle DX may not have a touch screen but even the vaporware Reader without the touchscreen was slated to be significantly more than the DX - I know these things are expensive to produce - I just dont see how Irex can survive two more years with basically no content revenue and the most expenisive devices on the market

My prediction (sorry guys) is that they won't survive to release it...

That is definitely a concern. Clearly they don't have as much revenue as Amazon does, but on the other hand, they are a MUCH smaller company. They don't need the same revenue to still be profitable. Their overhead is much smaller.

I think iRex is happy to fill a niche market that is much smaller than Amazon's. The question is how much will the DX drive into the DR's market. There will be some, but the DR still has some features/functionality that the DX doesn't.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by Over

Why this announcement? Could it be because they were the first to offer a big screen ereader but they know they won't be the first to offer a colour ereader? They're pratically saying "hey! wait for us! don't buy any colour ereader yet, ours will use a different and better technology!"

That may be part of it. It could also be that they're searching for partners/investors as well and are putting the word out now in order to look for some backing for the development costs.

[Blue]

Originally Posted by mand

I feel better.

Sorry for the confusion, I indeed meant the "development" (or better: "finishing the original specs"). ;-)

[joblack]

Originally Posted by balok

Why is it that we have become so sceptical whenever a company announces a release date? Is it that we are constantly being lied to?

Yep.

Not scepitcal for every company but Irex is chronically too late (still waiting for the Reader 1000RS)?

[chef]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

It sounds like they're working on a new technology though. Pixel Qi and Fujitsu Flepia were both variations on LCD. Liquavista is using electrowetting. Based on the iRex announcement, it sounds like they have a new approach for adding color to electrophoretic displays, which is what current eInk is based on. I don't think any of the announcements for color epaper displays I've seen so far have been based on eInk.

Really? What would the ink be then, if not E Ink? iRex makes display controllers and consumer products. Why would they waste their time inventing a whole new display and getting caught up in that chemistry when that is not their specialty?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by davidspitzer

...too much based on Irex's track record - the Kindle DX may not have a touch screen but even the vaporware Reader without the touchscreen was slated to be significantly more than the DX - I know these things are expensive to produce - I just dont see how Irex can survive two more years with basically no content revenue and the most expenisive devices on the market

My prediction (sorry guys) is that they won't survive to release it...

Remember that they are backed by the Dutch electronics company, Philips, who have deep pockets. I see no reason to think that they won't be around still in two years. Yes, their products are expensive, but they are targetted primarily at the business market, not the home user.

[Riocaz]

Harry, has there ever been any actual indication of that?

They were "spun out" (their term) of Phillips. But the way they have put that in their literature I understood that meant the original company left phillips to form iRex. I know they had a licencing agreement with Philips at one point.

[HarryT]

On their web site they say:

iRex Technologies BV is a spin-off company from Royal Philips Electronics...

which I would interpret as meaning that they are a subsidiary company owned by Philips. I may, of course, be wrong!

[sirbruce]

If they're spun off, it means they're an independent company, but Phillips could very well still own a controlling interest (which makes them a subsidiary).

[Riocaz]

Their website has changed it used to say:

iRex Technologies and Philips Electronics have a long term development relationship. We also have a patent and licensing agreement. We cooperate in the field of business development support.
iRex Technologies is based on the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. There is a close cooperation with Philips Home lab, and Philips AppTech Leuven. Philips Electronics has no formal share position in iRex Technologies BV.

As shown by "the archive" grab from 2006:
http://web.archive.org/web/200606180...es.com/faq.htm

Obviously however Philips may have bought some of iRex since that grab was taken.

--edit, on further investigation this was stated explictly on their website up until the end of 2007 at which point the archive stopped archiving the iRex website.

[junkyardwillie]

Originally Posted by HarryT

On their web site they say:



which I would interpret as meaning that they are a subsidiary company owned by Philips. I may, of course, be wrong!

If they say that its a spin-off then it can't be a subsidiary anymore. Philips might still hold considerable equity in the venture but if it was over 50% they would have to consolidate it (therefore it wouldn't be a spin-off).

I think unless Paper Logic totally misprices as well, Irex's days are numbered. The larger kindle could possibly be a good alternative because it will be able to display PDFs better which is key in most businesses (more so than a mobi would be, people can much easier just print to PDF rather than spending days reformating into mobi) but Paper Logic will directly compete with Irex's market and, at least at this point with Irex's current slate of products, blows the Iliad and DRS whatever out of the water in looks. I'd much rather have a Paper Logic device than an Iliad (I currently have an Iliad and use it almost every day, I love it but its no Paper Logic).

I would assume that since Irex is canceling support of the Iliad they must have something new coming down the pipeline but they will need to start coming up with prices better than $800 if they want to gain any type of market share and not fall off the face of the earth (look at UMPCs, netbooks came out and now UMPCs are the ugly redheaded stepchild of electronics). There's too much competition out now for the old mantra of we are looking at the high end market because eBook readers are already the high end market, people will gravitate to whatever product has the most marketing and support and everything else will be left behind. Very few companies will ever go and buy a bunch of these to give out to employees (maybe a hospital or something like that which would be too small scale since so much of the market is fragmented) so it would be the actual people rationalizing to buy one and paying an extra $500 because something has a stylus just wont cut it to get people onboard. I'm rooting for them but I don't see them being a long term competitor in this market.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by Gideon

Announcing it two years out? Really? In the tech world that seems to be just asking for it.

But here's hoping!

That is about how long it takes to get a new screen fabrication plant up and sending out product.

[timezone]

Direct customer service may still have much to be desired. I do not know because I have not had a reason to be in touch with them...knock on wood. Having said that I believe the DR1000 changed the company. I think it is a great product and they responded fairly quickly with a couple of bug fixes. One might argue that these fixes should never have been required. However they did hear the complaints and worked hard to correct the problems within a reasonable time frame.

There is a history of companies moving on. If you always try to support legacy products then innovation can suffer. I really am not making excuses for them. I just believe it is a fact of life. When you start to look at things one discovers that all companies drop support for products every year and often before their time.

A few Examples of major changes
Canon changed their lens mount. (This is huge, Lenses are not cheap.)
Apple a few years ago changed the OS without backward support.
Analog to Digital (Big change for some people)
Cell - moving to 3G.
Software - One often can stay with non-supported products but not always easy to do.

Small changes that can have large consequences
DVI to HDMI
USB - different sized plugs.
Floppy to CD to DVD
DVD to BlueRay (eventually we may all have to build a new film library)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by junkyardwillie

If they say that its a spin-off then it can't be a subsidiary anymore. Philips might still hold considerable equity in the venture but if it was over 50% they would have to consolidate it (therefore it wouldn't be a spin-off).

I think unless Paper Logic totally misprices as well, Irex's days are numbered. The larger kindle could possibly be a good alternative because it will be able to display PDFs better which is key in most businesses (more so than a mobi would be, people can much easier just print to PDF rather than spending days reformating into mobi) but Paper Logic will directly compete with Irex's market and, at least at this point with Irex's current slate of products, blows the Iliad and DRS whatever out of the water in looks. I'd much rather have a Paper Logic device than an Iliad (I currently have an Iliad and use it almost every day, I love it but its no Paper Logic).

I would assume that since Irex is canceling support of the Iliad they must have something new coming down the pipeline but they will need to start coming up with prices better than $800 if they want to gain any type of market share and not fall off the face of the earth (look at UMPCs, netbooks came out and now UMPCs are the ugly redheaded stepchild of electronics). There's too much competition out now for the old mantra of we are looking at the high end market because eBook readers are already the high end market, people will gravitate to whatever product has the most marketing and support and everything else will be left behind. Very few companies will ever go and buy a bunch of these to give out to employees (maybe a hospital or something like that which would be too small scale since so much of the market is fragmented) so it would be the actual people rationalizing to buy one and paying an extra $500 because something has a stylus just wont cut it to get people onboard. I'm rooting for them but I don't see them being a long term competitor in this market.

Do you perhaps mean "Plastic Logic" rather than "Paper Logic"?

Sorry, but I disagree with you. You shouldn't compare the price of the DR1000 against a dedicated eBook reader, because it's a lot more than a "mere" bookreader - it's competing in the "tablet" market, where it is very competitively priced. It's aimed squarely at the business market, not at home users.