More than a year ago I wrote a post all about a technique that can offer real colour to ereaders, colour that would work no matter how bright the ambient lighting is, and is fast enough to compete with LCD screens as well.  Well this miraculous technique is called electrowetting, and it seems that it is nearing production on a sensible scale finally.

As you can see from the short video here, the colour it offers is as bright and rich enough as one could wish, the refresh rate (how quickly it can change screens) is fast enough to show videos in full colour and generally it is apparently the best thing since the invention of the sliced loaf.  Further, as with e-Ink displays, it works perfectly well in bright sunlight, unlike LCD screens that fade away to blackness in bright light.

As with e-Ink screens, electrowetting is not a form of back lit computer screen, but more like paper in that it reflects light that falls on it, and not using light that shines through it from behind…  Front lit, rather than back lit in other words.

When you add  all the above qualities to the fact that it has the same sort of battery drain as a normal monochrome ereader using e-Ink, then you realise we are looking at a serious contender to become the screen technology that all digital devices with any sort of display can use (Tablets, digital watches, ereaders, laptops and so on).   One of the main problems with iPads and their ilk is the very short battery endurance they have, partly owing to the heavy drain on them caused by their screens continually refreshing themselves.

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The web is full of rumours of a possible colour screen version of the Kindle ereader as a result of a leak to a Chinese Newspaper.

Note added later:

As you will see from the link that Nate of the Digital Reader, has posted in the comments section below, it would seem that this is an unfounded rumour…  Not unusual in the world of electronic gadgets.

So I am glad I posed the title to this post in the form of a question….   As Nate so succinctly puts it…………..  Nope.

Now read on…. and enjoy the rumour for what it is worth.   remains a nice idea I feel, even if untrue.

According to a report in the Chinese paper, the Economic Daily News, e-Ink, the company who make the majority of the screens on our various ereaders, including their newest colour screen the Triton screen, have received a large order from Amazon to supply their 6 inch version of the Triton screen, with – it is claimed – a follow up order for up to 3 million units a month thereafter.

So far Amazon themselves have said nothing about this rumour, but it seems a logical step for Amazon to take I feel.

Dedicated ereader:

This would be a dedicated ereader apparently, not simply a smaller screened version of their tablet, the Fire, and would fill the gap in the ereader world for those who want to read magazines, text books and children’s books on their ereaders, all media that need colour to be pleasurable to read.

This screen is also a touch screen, so it fits neatly into Amazon’s collection of devices on which to read ebooks, and in fact fills that one gap that so far they have not yet attacked.

The point of using this screen technology, rather than as with the majority of Tablets, an LCD screen, is that it offers all the advantages of the current generation of monochrome ereader screens, long battery life, ease of reading in bright light, easy on the eyes if you read a lot.  Against these advantages, is the fact that the colours are nothing like as vibrant as those on an LCD screen, nor is the screen refresh rate fast enough to watch videos with.  So this is truly a dedicated ereader, not merely a Tablet with slightly different screen technology.

Kindles are always cheap:

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Just a small taster to give you an idea of what we shall soon have in our ereaders

In a couple of earlier posts I discussed this newest screen technology from Qualcomm, which goes under the name of Mirasol. An intriguing system akin to e-Ink that can give us loads of rich colours on our ereaders, without the problems associated with the LCD screens that all previous mobile devices (iPads, Tablets, Smart Phones laptops and all earlier colour ereaders) use.

Since when, a new short promo video of the South Korean ereader has been released which gives in a matter of a few sentences a very good overview of what this screen (and ereader) are capable of.  Quite impressive for a non backlit LCD screen I would say.  Basically what they have created is a small tablet that can be used comfortably in bright light and with a long battery endurance.

So I am certain that this screen technology will very rapidly start to appear in all manner of other mobile devices.

Anyhow, here is that short video, sit back and enjoy it.

Links to previous posts on this topic:

mirasol-coloured-ereader-screen-has-arrived-kyobo-launch-ereader-with-full-colour-e-ink-like-technology/

qualcomm-promise-ereaders-with-full-colour-and-long-battery-life-by-mid-2012/

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OK, colour screen for ereaders, interesting, needed or pointless?   What do you think?

Yesterday I wrote a post about the rumour that Qualcomm’ Mirasol screen technology would be launched some time in 2012.  And I expressed doubts about whether it would ever actually happen.

Well, I was as wrong as you can be!  Shortly after posting that article, I was inundated with press releases telling me that Korean book sellers Kyobo have launched an ereader using the Mirasol screen.

So, with a very red face, sack-cloth and ashes, I have to tell you that it has actually happened, and there is now a fully fledged ereader out there with all the advantages of the standard e-Ink type of screen (long battery life, easy to read in bright light, easy on the eyes for long periods of reading), but also full colour.

It seems the refresh rate is fast enough to also show videos on this device, so whilst it is a dedicated ereader, and not simply a small tablet, it can perform several other tasks.

They haven’t yet given out too much information about this ereader, but it will only be on sale in South Korea, that is obvious at least.   But equally obvious, if it takes off, then it wont be long before other ereader companies come on board and start to use the Mirasol screen instead of the e-Ink or LCD ones they currently use.    So watch out for the first non-LCD colour Nook or Kobo ereader…  Must happen.

So, until then, here are a few extracts from their press release which give an idea of what this gadget is.  Also, if you follow this link, you will be able to see a couple of videos showing the ereader in action, rather impressive I find.

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Does the fact that Amazon (via a subsidiary) have purchased Yap, a speech recognition software that has been around for some years, mean that they intend to install it on their Kindles and Fire Tablet soon?

Apple set the world on its ear by including Siri, a sort of intelligent “being” who inhabits their latest smart phones.  Basically Siri is a sort of Digital Personal Assistant, who you can talk to, and who talks right back at you.   Thus removing the need to press endless buttons on your mobile phone to achieve things.

Rather a fun idea.

I can see the point of such an application in a Tablet or Smart Phone, or any computer come to that really, but I am not quite so sure about it in an ereader.

Generally one doesn’t indulge in too many things when using a dedicated ereader, a small amount of organizing, and a lot of sitting quietly reading is what most people do with ereaders.

As I have remarked before, the last thing I want my ereader to do is to suddenly inform me that I have an email waiting to be read, or even worse functioning as a sort of super sophisticated alarm clock and appointment diary.   But I also hate cars that tell me in a sort of sultry voice to put my safety belt on as well…..

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A video interview in which the whole operating principles of e-Ink are explained in simple terms, as well as a look at what the future holds for e-Ink, and the various possible devices we might find it being used on – such as credit cards, watches and all manner of other things.  Good fun to contemplate.

I shan’t paraphrase what the guy has to say for himself, as it is all perfectly clearly explained in the almost 20 minute long video below.

So, simply sit back and watch as it is all explained. Read full story »