Toppan Printing launched a new battery-free RFID tag called Near Cross D 2.9, that can be used to enhance traceability, enable labor-saving, and drive paperless processes in manufacturing, distribution, and retail.

The RFID tag uses an E Ink display that makes it possible to display information in multiple languages to optimize communication among diverse workforces without the need to print or affix additional logistics labels or instructions. Its high readability ensures easy QR code scanning.

E Ink Holdings has unveiled a new 10.3" foldable ePaper display. The company is working on foldable displays for a long time, and according to the CEO, "the crease issue on foldable display is improving".

Ynvisible announced a collaboration with Evonik Creavis to combine Evonik's TAeTTOOz printable polymer battery materials with Ynvisible's electrochromic displays. The two companies have also jointly developed a technology demonstrator.

The two companies say that combining the printable battery and display could be used to create novel IoT products. The demonstrator is an ultra low-weight, minimal-energy flexible and transparent system. Both the battery and the display are manufactured in a single step which lowers the production cost and eliminates design and production restrictions of conventional electronics.

This interesting video from IDTechEx's conference shows Toyobo's Xenomax polyimide film, used as substrates for flexible E Ink displays. Toyobo says that its films are used by E Ink in all 13.3" flexible e-paper displays:

WaveShare announced a new 4.2" 400x300 and 7.5" 800x480 NFC-powered E Ink devices. The idea is that these can be used as small monitors that do not require any batteries or power.

These devices can be updated via a smartphone that supports NFC (via the NFCTag application). Screen refresh rime is around 4-5 seconds. The price of the 4.2" model is $39.99 and the 7.5" model is $68.99. Waveshare says that not all smartphones will have a strong enough NFC to connect to the devices, but Waveshare offers a dedicated NFC board with a micro-SD card for $22. These devices also ship from Amazon.com, costing a bit more than directly via WaveShare.

Ynvisible sent us this nice Christmas card, that shows off the company's flexible transparent electrochromic displays. Ynvisible's displays are produced using a simple printing method, which allows them to be quite cost effective.

Ynvisible was established in Portugal in 2010, and in 2011 the company started producing sample products (we tested one in August 2012). In September 2018, the company has gone through a reverse take-over, and the Canadian headquartered Ynvisible Interactive Inc. has inaugurated its new production line near Lisbon.

e-Paper displays offer exciting features, such as great image quality, low power consumption (bi-stability), sunlight visibility and more. Here's our new short video that introduces e-paper display technology and the current market status:

This nice video from our friend Charbax shows a couple of interesting Hisense smartphones. The first is a A5, with its 5.8" HD+ display and low $100 price tag, and the second is the A6 which sports two displays - a 6.1" 2160×1080 AMOLED display on the front and a 5.6" touch E Ink Carta HD screen on the back.

In July 2019, Dasung started shipping its third-generation E Ink secondary monitor, the Paperlike HD-FT. This e-paper monitor is based on a 13.3" 2200x1650 touch display with a front light. Dasung was kind enough to send us a unit for this review.

The Paperlike HD-FT is a surprisingly slick and lightweight monitor. It's like a large tablet or a large e-reader, but one that connects to your computer via a single cable that requires two connectors - USB for power and HDMI for data. The monitor than acts like a regular 2nd monitor.

CLEARink demonstrated their latest color e-paper displays at SID Displayweek 2019, and following is an interesting interview with the company's CEO Frank Christiaens and CMO (our good friend Sri Peruvemba):

CLEARink latest displays are 9.7" (227 PPI) and supports 4,096 colors. Frank says that CLEARink has over $300 million in confirmed commitments, mainly from the educational market. The company hopes to bring its first displays to the market by 2020.