Kyobo (a leading Korean book retailer) launched its first e-reader today - and it uses a color Mirasol display - a capacitive touch 5.7" 1024x768 panel with Qualcomm's front-light LED technology that can illuminate the display. Other features include a 1Ghz processor, Android v2.3 and Wi-Fi. The e-reader is now shipping in Korea for around $300.
The Telegraph is reporting that some Kindle users (one user really, according to the report) are complaining that baggage scanners in airports are damaging the E Ink display in their e-reader. They suggest that the X-Ray radiation may permanently damage the display.
It's highly unlikely that this is a common issue - there are millions of E Ink e-readers on the market (in 2011 alone E Ink will have shipped over 25 million e-reader displays) and many people are taking their e-readers on a plane. If it were a real problem, we would have noticed before. E Ink themselves told us that they're not aware of a single display failure as a result of an X-Ray machine. It's also possible that the failure in the e-reader is not related to the display.
Qualcomm's CEO Jacobs promises that Mirasol displays will be in "full production" soon, and e-reader devices that use these displays will ship by the middle of 2012. The company is currently focusing on 5.7" displays for e-readers, but Mirasol displays will also be suitable for Tablets.
E Ink announced a new sweepstakes in which they give away four Phosphor watches - one each week. You simply need to like E Ink's facebook page and then apply to the giveaway.
Here's our hands-on review of the Phosphor E Ink watch, and the Phosphor world time watch. Both use a SURF (segmented) E Ink display.
iSupply performed a teardown analysis on the Kindle 2011, and according to them the 6" E Ink Pearl display costs $30.5. This is the most expensive component on the Kindle - which costs $84 on the whole (BOM and assembly). This means that Amazon is actually losing $5 on each ad-supported device sold - which cost $79
E Ink Holdings announced today that the company's 2011 revenues reached NT$ 33.271 billion from January to October - crossing the $1 billion mark.
E Ink's revenue climbed 83% compared to last year, mostly due to increased sales of e-reader products.
E Ink released three nice videos of its FPD-2011 booth: showing the new E Ink displays, panels and applications:
Electronics says they plan to launch 40" and larger e-paper devices in the second half of 2012. These e-paper panels will be used mainly as advertisements or price tags in retail locations (supermarkets and department stores). Delta's is usingBridgestone's e-paper technology.