The boys at E Ink Corporation are trying to develop a portable device that "will have high contrast and reflectivity, high resolution to 200+ PPI, with devices readable in even bright sunlight, and no angle of viewing to get in the way". And they propose that "the form factor be no heavier or bigger than a paper product, weight less than 1lb, using a small batter that gives weeks of usage, and shatterproof". They just showcased three different prototypes :- Here's one of the two smaller prototypes. They are using "a-SI TFT on stainless steel foil substrates, one which measures 1.6-inch diagonally, shows 80 PPI, and is only 0.3mm thick, while the other is 3-inch diagonally, has a res of 96 PPI (240 x 160 pixels), and is a similar thickness." Here's their bigger prototype with "a six inch diagonal display, SVGA resolution, two bit greyscale, 36% reflectance, 9:1 contrast ration, a 1800 viewing angle, an E Ink front plane, and a Philips designed backplane and drive electronics". Wow! Impressive, don't you think? The current Pocket PCs are still not that great for reading e-books. Although the firm is thinking of eventually producing what they call RadioPaper - an electronic form of the newspaper, I hope their technology will be also be used in future Pocket PCs. With luck, we may soon be able to own a Pocket PC that's as light and portable as the "Global" used in Earth : Final Conflict! For more details, check out The Inquirer's article here!
