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What I want to know is where the http://pixelqi.com/ guys are hiding... They had a workable device, shipping in nontrivial volume with the OLPC XO-1, and then seemingly dropped off the map.

All the refresh rate of an LCD panel(because it is one); but, in transreflective mode, looks more like e-ink than any LCD I've ever seen and has the option to do color if you crank the backlight....

We know(because all but the nastiest LCD tablets running Android or iOS can and do do it) that contemporary low-power ARM chipsets are up to the challenge of crunching PDFs; but e-ink displays are mostly too small to display 8.5x11 or A4 pages, too slow for panning/zooming/etc, and PDF reflow is crap. If they would just start existing, the Pixel Qi screens would fairly efficiently solve this problem, at lower cost and lower power than standard LCD panels; but nobody seems to have heard a peep from them.

This iPad vs. Pixel Qi comparison picture really shows the important difference. The Qi might not have the best colors, but for text and simple images it is good. The iPad and most other laptops and tablets are hard to use outdoors. See this demo image, too.

They already have products that you can buy right now. Even Slashdot has ran a story about DIY retrofit screens. Also the Notion Ink Adam had a Pixel Qi display. You can see their full product line-up at their homepages.

And d) their web site is so ugly that Apple blocks it at the firewall.

You can buy their screens for yourself.

If you desire such a lowly device, why not simply use pen and paper?

Ok, one idea could be to get an Atom netbook with good battery life. Then replace the display with a Pixel Qi one.

The Kindle does that with its e-ink screen, while no LCD-based tablet can come close because the screens don't work well in sunlight and they require recharging after a few hours of use.

Hey, let's not forget Pixel Qi displays. Currently at least the Notion Ink Adam can be bought with such.

Eventually, the tablet and e-reader categories 'are going to slam together,' says Rob Enderle, adding that they are 'held apart, largely because we don't yet have an affordable display that will do both tasks well.'

what about the this?

I thought one of the advantages of the Pixel Qi screens were its low price, as it was initially targeted to the OLPC

They have a pretty picture which explains the difference. Basically, the concept is the same, but the Pixel Qi displays have much better performance in trasflective and reflective modes (in terms of response times, anyway). The OLPC display is not really meant to be used for much beyond static text in reflective mode. The Pixel Qi displays are for more general use.

The advantage is not the price so much as the fact that you can use it while sitting outside in the sun, without having to squint.

10.1 inches, replaces screens on two netbook models (Samsung N130 & Lenovo S10-2), maybe more models (they're testing), nice full-sunlight low-power "e-reader" mode that would be *great* for outdoor work (check out the comparison shots), costs $275 USD, etc. But nowhere do they say what resolution the display is, which is a bit silly. I'm guessing 1280x800? Anyone know?

While your device has probably quite "ordinary" transflective screen (which is good at what it does, don't get me wrong) - this new screen is most likely very noticeably better.

Check out pics from the blog of its manufacturer (essentially they also made the screen for XO-1). Or look up videos on Youtube - a lot of them depicting early, still unoptimised prototypes from a year ago; shot by very visibly amateur 3rd party videographers during trade shows (yes, outside), and the screen still looks fabulous. One tablet announced some time ago ("Adam"?...) also uses it IIRC; and we should see quite a bit of new products at Computex soon.

http://pixelqi.com/blog1/2010/03/30/olpc-and-pixel-qi-sign-cross-license-agreement-for-screen-technology/

Boy, I hope they're using Mary Lou Jepsen's Pixel Qi (http://www.pixelqi.com/) screens. I am far from a hardcore programming geek, but I could use something like this for a simple E-reader and Mutt email device.

She also has a blog: http://pixelqi.com/blog1/

Supposedly, hackers will be able to buy raw screens for DIY projects. Might be ideal for hooking up to a BeagleBoard.

iPad-like tablets are useless to us tech folks, but as the sales show, their at least in the short term adequate enough for the masses to continue iPadding Jobs' wallet.

The ideal device, which I still have yet to see as a real commercial product at a reasonable price, is a convertible netbook.

A small laptop with 720p capabilities (like the newer netbooks), plus a stylus-friendly touchscreen, and the ability to fold it open all the way [or rotate and fold back if that's simpler] so it can be used as a tablet when the need arises [ie: watching a movie, reading on the go, making presentations, etc].

Combine that with a sunlight-friendly screen, like the OLPC's Pixel Qi color ePaper-like display, and you've got a real winner.

+1 internets to you sir, and please release a 720p and 1080p tablets with TEGRA 2 behind, fully capable of mp4 and xvid and avi's, etc; hdmi out (see EVO phone when in doubt). Maybe include a pixel-qi screen (nerds can dream, right?). Enable adobe flash--ONLY for those who REALLY want it--and advertise your differences and *effing compete--in the world scene*--for god's sake!

If reading documents is one of your main uses for a tablet, then you should keep an eye out for the Adam by NotionInk.

It will be (one of ?) the first shipping device to use the PixelQi transflective display, which is an improvement of the OLPC display. It is a reflective display, like eInk, but with fast refresh rates like LCD. It also can display color which is far more saturated than color eInk (although not as good as LCD), as well as switching to ultra-high resolution greyscale.

The Adam uses the Tegra Chipset (ARM Cortex A9 + Nvidia graphics), and they are advertizing 16 hours of HD video playback, compared to 9 on the iPad.
It will run Android, and will be an open development environment. It was demo at recent trade shows, and is definitely not vaporware.

I don't care whether Google prepares an iPad rival. A whole bunch of new Linux tablets are coming, likewise a whole bunch of "smartbooks" (netbook computers with non-x86 processors).

I'm really excited about the nVidia Tegra 2 chip. Typical power dissipation of about 500 milliWatts, 8 cores: ARM7 "housekeeping" core, dual 1GHz ARM9 processing cores, audio core, graphics accelerator core, video encode core, video decode core, and "image processing" core (which will support a high-resolution camera). nVidia showed off prototype smartbooks with a Tegra 2 playing HD video, and claimed that the chip was dissipating 150 milliWatts; elsewhere I have seen 500 milliWatts as the typical number.

I'm also excited about the Pixel Qi screen. That's the same display technology from the OLPC. A nice-looking display that dissipates 2 Watts when the backlight is on, and about 0.2 Watts with the backlight disabled. If you want to sit outside in the bright sun, you turn the backlight off and you get a nice, readable, sharp display that's very suitable for ebooks and web surfing, but you could watch movies that way too if you wanted.

A typical Atom system dissipates 15 to 20 Watts while operating. That's why netbooks need cooling fans. A Tegra 2/Pixel Qi system ought to have tremendous battery life, especially with the backlight off, and won't need a cooling fan. Win/win.

So, what I want is a tablet and a smartbook with a Tegra 2 and a Pixel Qi screen. I want Linux, but that's no problem, because Windows doesn't even run on a Tegra 2, and I don't think anybody is going to ship a Windows CE tablet. And I insist on a device with USB ports: I want to be able to plug in a keyboard, a mouse, a memory card reader, or USB storage devices.

I imagine that Acer and Asus will both ship products I will want. But the actual announced product I know about is the Notion Ink Adam tablet: Tegra 2 chip, Pixel Qi screen, capacitive multitouch touchscreen, Android OS. It also has an intriguing feature: a trackpad on the back of the device, which allows you to use Flash applications that were designed for use with a mouse (you use a finger on the back to drag the cursor around, and tap on the front with your other hand to click the mouse). It also has a camera that can be flipped around to point at you, away from you, or in between. It was originally announced for June, but recent news casts doubt on that.

By the way, one reason why tablets are the hot new form factor: people who see something that looks like a notebook computer expect it to run Windows, but people who see a tablet device have no expectations. So, there will probably be more tablets than smartbooks.

steveha

this is pure vaporware, but pixel qi's screens aren't: http://www.pixelqi.com/products

See the Adam device from Notion Ink. It will ship with a Pixel Qi screen that works in reflective mode (like the e-ink screen on a Kindle) in sunlight. However, unlike e-ink, it can also run in full color with normal video-friendly refresh rates, just by turning on the backlight. You get the best of both worlds, including very low power usage when running in reflective mode. On most Pixel Qi devices this switching on and off of the backlight can be done manually or automatically with an ambient light sensor. The Adam device runs Android, rather than a direct Linux OS.

It's also better than the old OLPC screen, they posted a graph (image) descrbing that. The blog post can't be read but the image of the graph can.

It's also better than the old OLPC screen, they posted a graph (image) descrbing that. The blog post can't be read but the image of the graph can.

Why has noone speculated on a possible Pixel Qi screen?
http://www.pixelqi.com/
They have supposedly been ready to ship for a couple months now and plenty of prototypes are floating around. There's no way any of the PQ girls and guys would let it slip out, since this would be their first actual product launch. They wouldn't do anything to jeopardize their image, and the LACK of rumors of a Pixel Qi screen makes me think I'm on to something (in the sense that this rock keeps away tigers, as I haven't seen one since i've had this rock...).

You do know that an ARM processor consumes less power than an Intel Atom processor, and thus increases battery life. In addition to that, the Pixel Qi LCD technology with an ARM processor can give 15-20 hours or more worth of battery life [1] (Pixel Qi uses 1/2 to 1/4 of the power that standard LCD screens use [2]).

[1] http://www.pcworld.com/article/154541/jepsen_works_to_raise_laptop_battery_life_to_2040_hours.html
[2] http://www.pixelqi.com/

You obviously don't understand what the Pixel Qi screen is all about. Software is changeable, but the Pixel Qi screen is about as innovative as it gets...as in true innovation, not the Microsoft marketing-drivel-definition. Maybe you should learn about it from Ms. Jepsen's blog: http://www.pixelqi.com/blog1/

There were book readers before the e-ink displays came around, but very few people used them because they suffered from 2 major drawbacks. The first was the power consumption of their displays meant that you had to plug them in and let them charge on a daily or twice daily basis. People already have to charge their cell phones on a daily basis, but charging one twice a day when you use it a lot is pretty annoying, and a huge amount of power is spent on the display when a cell phone is being used.

But e-ink isn't the only solution to that problem. Look at Pixel Qi which are starting to produce *now* displays with 1/2 or less the power draw of an LCD screen and full color (with backlight, b/w without backlight) and video capabilities. Make sure to see the videos of an Acer netbook with such an display. IMHO e-ink will be very soon something nobody wants to have anymore (except in very special applications).

It turns out that starting probably next year some time, you get the best of both worlds. We'll have netbooks and net tablets that pack displays equal to e-paper in sunlight, and with brilliant color.

That page says almost nothing about what they're actually doing... Does the "pixelqi" address any problems except the reflection-in-sunlight/backlight problem?

The grandparent's complaint was as much about the annoyingly obvious artifacts of LCD color displays when viewing detailed high-contrast material (like text) at close-distance with relatively low-resolution, as it was about backlighting vs. reflective displays.

It turns out that starting probably next year some time, you get the best of both worlds. We'll have netbooks and net tablets that pack displays equal to e-paper in sunlight, and with brilliant color.

Personally, I translate e-books to high-speed audio (about 500 wpm), rather than reading, as my central vision is failing. I can't tell you how much I enjoy having books read to me at that speed with the old IBM ViaVoice TTS. The problem with Kindle and friends is they make it too hard or impossible for me to enjoy their books in the form I want. I have high hopes that netbooks with the new displays coupled with Googles e-book service will change the world.

Mary Lou Jepson's Pixel Qi screens are coming soon. Then screens that are readable in any light will be available, the demo is pretty impressive.
  Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm8WoItVRn0 In the demo she also explains how her team has found a way to mass produce these screens using existing manufacturing techniques, so they can get to market very fast.

I think it will toss a huge wrench into Microsoft's plans for products like the Courier (supposing it's real at all). Pixel Qi is hardware that Microsoft can't control. So, it wouldn't surprise me to see them using the same methods they used against the OLPC and netbooks to squelch this new technology. Which could partially explain this current Courier hype.

About Pixel Qi: http://www.pixelqi.com/about_us

Ask anyone who has used an OLPC, and they will tell you that not only is it possible to use an LCD in full, direct sunlight, the image quality actually improves; the stronger the light, the better. The OLPC's limitation, however, is that daylight-readable version is monochrome only.

The 3Qi is the commercialized next generation of the same screen technology. It adds EPaper, color, and video to the line up. Mary Lou Jepsen, the engineering genius behind the company, is trying to get the power requirements down far enough to allow 20-40 hours of run time, using current battery technology. The current version of the 3Qi is apparently not able to achieve that kind of power management without changes to the motherboard, but is still able to reduce power requirements by 20%.

Engadget did a series of side-by-side video comparisons with the Kindle earlier this year, and the results are very impressive.

It won't be a problem if they use a screen from pixelqi: http://www.pixelqi.com/

I was too lazy to add links but these guys do this

http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/touchbook/

esentially an Arm based netbook tablet with the guts behind the screen and a plug in keyboard which sort of turns it back into a netbook again.
It looks like the keyboard is weighted down with a battery to make a stable netbook.

Pricing appears to be $300 for the tablet or $400 for the tablet + keyboard battery combo. I think they have used something like a wireless keyboard to get a unit which can work detached from the screen.

I'd like to introduce them to these guys

http://pixelqi.com/

who make these screens

http://jkkmobile.blogspot.com/2009/06/hands-on-with-pixel-qis-new-epaper.html

Essentially its an LCD Screen which can turn off the backlight and run in a black and white mode at quite a low power.

PixelQI used one of the first screens to mod an aspire one.

speaking of mods heres a nice diy version of an aspire one tablet.
http://www.liliputing.com/2008/10/acer-aspire-one-retooled-as-a-tablet-style-umpc.html

Check out Pixel Qi's transflective screens.

Judging from all the eInk stuff I have seen, not any time soon. The refresh times are still measured in seconds and still have that "invert the screen" thing going on. I have seen laser printers that could print faster then those eInk things can refresh.

However outside of eInk based displays there is PixelQi who have build the OLPC screen and are now building stuff normal computers. Judging from the OLPC display, they certainly have the potential to rival eInk based stuff. The OLPC display is 200dpi, sunlight readable and has refresh times that are perfectly fine for watching video, where the OLPC display fails is at indoor readability without the backlight, as you need lots of light to see something on the screen. The display is also not white, but gray, so it reads more like recycling paper. However its still a really good display for reading books on it and its already a few years old, so they had plenty of time to improve upon it.

I think the massive development costs for epaper are unwarranted. It was a great idea, but too hard to do, and people's minds were already set on doing it in the old microcapsule way.

The OLPC screen designed by Mary Lou Jepsen is pretty great - the only issue is that the material on the back of the screen reflects the light at too pure an angle - if it were a bit more diffuse it would be a perfect e-paper alternative. In sunlight or bright ambient light it's incredible, and it's quite low power. If color is needed, at the cost of a bit of fuzziness it can display color images and video very well.

I'm keeping my eye on her new project, Pixel Qi. Personally though, I've been happy reading books on my HandSpring Visor, Sony Clie PEG-SJ33, PSP (with homebrew "KittyBook"), and now Stanza on my iPod Touch. I don't really need a paperlike display since I grew up reading textfiles on my home PC anyway.

Ignore the slashdot headline. Read Mary Lou Jepsen's blog, http://www.pixelqi.com/ for the technical vision.

Mary Lou's vision of the next generation of display technology is:

- Daylight readable
- Color
- Fast enough for video
- Embedded Wireless
- Touchscreen
- Embedded solid-state storage
- Extremely low power (1 watt)
- Embedded battery
- Battery life measured in days, not hours
- Embedded processor

Mary Lou's point is that with a machine like this, who needs a heavy-weight OS? Just about everything one needs on the OS side would already be in the hardware.

These are clearly the ideas behind what Nicholas is describing.

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080107182525297 http://pixelqi.com/

I wrote the section of the OpenCores FAQ that the story refers to so I can give a little background history.

The FAQ answer was the result of an extended discussion on the OpenCores mailing lists about the best license to use. We didn't come up with a definitive answer and the GPL, LGPL, modified BSD recommendation was aimed at reducing license proliferation while giving people a choice between copyleft and non-copyleft. The MIT license was judged to be close enough to the modified BSD license (also noted by OSI) that we could just choose one of them. Reducing proliferation was an issue since people were experimenting with different homebrewed licenses with potential to fragment the community.

Open and Free licensing is still a murky issue for hardware as much of hardware falls outside of copyright. In so far as copyright applies (schematics, bitstreams, source code, ...) it was decided that licenses such as the GPL could be applied. It is still not clear by what legal mechanism a hardware manufacturer can be forced to disclose the "open" portions of a system.

For example say someone builds an integrated circuit using GPLd VHDL from the OpenCores website. The chip might be covered by circuit layout rights but it is questionable whether copyright is applicable. It seems unclear that the GPL can be applied to a chip. A system such as a circuit board is even murkier since it is not covered by circuit layout rights and being a functional system might fall outside copyright (despite manufacturers plastering their boards with the copyright symbol). Any copyright could also be circumvented by rerunning an autorouter with a different seed to generate a different pattern of PCB tracks.

It will be very interesting to see what conclusion Eben Moglen, Mary Lou Jepsen and so on come to now that the OLPC and Pixel Qi have prompted the Free Software community to seriously examine the underpinnings of Free Hardware. A number of years ago Richard Stallman was of the view that Free Hardware was outside the mission of the FSF and freedom for hardware was not relevant since the difficulty of manufacturing was a greater barrier to freedom than the law.