Bridgestone announces flexible touchscreen color e-reader

[ziegl027]

Originally Posted by jswinden

But that is way to big for a portable reading device.
.

I disagree. It would be enormously useful both for those of us looking for a large format for technical work, but would also be appealing for those looking for recreational larger-format reading materials such as magazines with photo layouts.

[Daithi]

BTW, I'm waiting to see a device built around the Qualcomm Mirasol technology. It has very crisp color, refresh rates capable of supporting video, and a very low drain on the battery. So far they have only displayed small sized screens that use this technology, but if they start building large screen devices, well, whoohoo!

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by calvin-c

As for the size, it seems to me that there are two separate markets here. Some people are entirely in one market or the other while others straddle both markets depending on what they're doing-but I think there's definitely two markets.

Agree 100%. I'm kind of a straddler as I love my Kindle for leisure reading, but it's wortheless for work.

That said if I can get a nice tablet device that's not larger than A4, and very thin and light, I'd probably eventually scrap my leisure reader and just use the tablet for work and novels.

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

So, I drowned my phone a few months ago. If I had been you, I'd not been able to read and surf the net anymore (I used my PDA for that, now it would be the JE100, Mini and PDA). Or take notes (PDA again). Or listen to my MP3's (MP3 player).

Me, I'd take 4 different devices for 4 different functions any day. It would be nice if some functions were on several devices (like note taking on your phone and your reader or listening to mp3's on your phone and mp3 player, etc).

As you note later, most everyone has multiple devices that can do these functions. I can listen to my cds, or mp3s on my pc, laptop, work pc, as wel as two mp3 players. Can read on PCs etc. etc. So one could still do those things if one all in one device was broken/lost.

It's just nice to have a good, portable device that consolidates several functions together for those of us on the go all the time. It doesn't mean that's the only device we have for those functions. Just it would be our main portable device for those functions.

Originally Posted by ziegl027

I disagree. It would be enormously useful both for those of us looking for a large format for technical work, but would also be appealing for those looking for recreational larger-format reading materials such as magazines with photo layouts.

Yep. That's why I could see myself scrapping my Kindle (or other small reader) for a a light tablet for leisure reading and work reading etc. It's a little less convenient for novel reading, but the benefits for magazines etc. kind of outweigh that loss for me.

But as said above, there are two markets here with some overlap. There needs to be a wide array of devices from small, dedicated readers, to thin tablets mainly for reading and annotating, to full tablet PCs so that everyone can find a device that suits their needs. Plenty of room in the market for such an array--just like with cell phones, netbooks etc.

[CleverClothe]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

I don't think the "jack of all trades, master of none" critique really flys any more. Tech is getting better and better and doing a lot of things well in recent years from things like the iPhone to video game consoles like the PS3 being an outstanding Blu Ray player (when past consoles were terrible DVD players) etc. etc.

The PS3 is a bad example. It is getting its butt kicked up and down the street by a focused gaming machine. Heck, it is selling as bad as the Game Cube (a pure gaming machine), and that was considered a failure.

The PSP is another example. It loses bad to the DS, which is more dedicated to gaming.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by CleverClothe

The PS3 is a bad example. It is getting its butt kicked up and down the street by a focused gaming machine. Heck, it is selling as bad as the Game Cube (a pure gaming machine), and that was considered a failure.

The PSP is another example. It loses bad to the DS, which is more dedicated to gaming.

I was talking in functionality--not sales success. But fair points. I don't have a PS3, but some friends and family do. And it's a very high rated Blu Ray player. And it has a lot of good games--though the 360 had more exclusive games that appealed to me.

But anyhow, I couldn't care less if the device I have is a sales success as long as it fits my needs.

Especially for something like a tablet device which would ideally just be based on a standard OS which would assure access to tons of software regardless of how well the specific device sells.

It would be more of a concern if it's something like a Kindle that has it's own OS, access to it's own book/app store etc. as if it doesn't sell well it's a paper weight. I probably wouldn't buy such a device for my tablet needs and wait for something that's either a sales success and clear to stick around (like the iPhone was very quickly) or based on a standard platform like Windows etc.

[Kali Yuga]

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.

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!!

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.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

• An eReader replaces, and is just as convenient (if not more so) than the paper book(s) you'd carry instead.

I never carried paper e-books for reading before. Don't often carry my kindle around either. Leisure reading is something to do until sleepy at night thing for me.

• 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.

It's doable. But I'd prefer to minimize what I have carry around daily, on business trips etc. as much as possible.

Multifunction devices can be convenient, and will clearly have a role to play. But I seriously doubt that dedicated readers will disappear overnight.

That I agree with 100%. As I said above, there's plenty of room in the market for a wide array of devices ranging from dedicated e-ink readers for people who just read and need the screen and battery life, to tablet devices for people who need to mark up larger documents, and want all the business features etc.

It's not an either or proposition. All kinds of devices can come out and thrive in particular markets.

[markbot]

i'm expecting this to take a few years to get right. I just bought a Kindle DX. I can wait 3 years to 2012 for a color version.

[Daithi]

Originally Posted by markbot

i'm expecting this to take a few years to get right. I just bought a Kindle DX. I can wait 3 years to 2012 for a color version.

I agree. I'm looking forward to the next great thing, but I think my Kindle DX will tide me over until it gets here.

[Teyrnon]

Hmm, if it actually comes out in 2010 and at an affordable price it might just be very attractive. Sounds like it'd be a great reader for viewing my collection of academic and gaming pdfs.

[Ankh]

Has anyone figured out what is the resolution of this screen?

[Lbooker]

I do not see any real progress here. Dark colors look bad.
Ring me when there is a new screen technology with a much improved contrast!
First I want white, not grey. Then colors.

[fugazied]

Originally Posted by badbob001

The contrast appears to be very low, but the refresh speed, as shown in this old video, seems good:

That is what I expected, very low contrast. I did not expect this technology (thin flexible touch colour device) to be in the marketplace till like 2012 or something!

For them to get this to market so quickly I figured yes it must have some issues, they can't be that far ahead of other manufacturers. For me, the ultimate device is the one shown in movies like mission impossible (I think it's that movie). Basically a transparent paper thin LCD touch device which can be folded to fit in your pocket and can do everything, I suspect in the real world it would need nano technology lol

[Littermate]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

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.

It does say :-

*Trials begin at the Kansai Urban Banking Corp early next year, but you can check it out sooner at FPD International 2009 in Yokohama City, Japan, starting tomorrow.*

Doesn't that mean they DO have devices working and ready enough for real world use? Amazon did some trials with their large screen thingy with academics and students, and generally got a thumbs down due to the clunkiness and mono screens. This sounds as if it could fit quite neatly into that potentially very large niche when/if perfected. Sounds good to me. Plus if these touch colour screens (or any other pending technologies) take off they could, I think, dominate (depending on price) which might well push down the prices of less desirable mono eink devices, which also sounds good to me.

I am of course guessing.

[edit]
Sorry, just realised you meant a product actually for sale. It does look like they are close to that though.

[Over]

With QUE clearly aimed for business (meaning: expensive), this is my only hope.