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First Mobile Device with Rollable Display
TC writes "Telecom Italia and Polymer Vision today [February 5, 2007] announced an agreement which will see the leading operator of the Italian mobile industry and the pioneers of the rollable display industry join to develop and launch the world's first rollable display enabled mobile device to market in 2007.
After seven years of gestation it seems that E Ink is coming of age."
until they say how much it costs. Seeing as Telecom's service sucks consistently, I expect this "phone" to fail miserably.
Global warming is a cube.
7 years of gestation, and its suddenly coming of age? What happened to childhood? These new technologies grow up so fast... Hey! Damn kids! Get off my lawn!
There is no mod option "-1: Disagree" for a reason. "Overrated" is not an acceptable substitute. Post something instead.
This is a really neat device. It's too bad the company is so stupid.
... Paradox? No, just stupidity. They mean larger than the handheld when in storage form.
It's completely locked down by DRM. The ONLY books it'll read have to be bought from them.
It's only marketed in Italy. Holy cow... That's awful short-sighted.
The webpage there is also riddled with stupid comments like 'display larger than the handset itself'
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
so opposed to the last x years where these kinds of devices have been not available, they are now ... not available?
My Karma: ran over your Dogma
StrawberryFrog
I wonder about the software in the device. From the article I understand that content "can be delivered and bought through TIMs mobile network via a regular SIM Card within the device". This may screw up the device, not only because the provider can ask for insane amount of money for the service, but because it may not have what I want to read. I guess most popular newspapers will be there, but what about PDFs I download from the net?, what if I have a Safari account that allows me to download books in PDF format?
I don't know about you, but after reading the first two paragraphs my brain started to asplode...
On a more serious note, its about time.. although the article is rather scant on details, the device looks like a quite acceptable first-generation portable information booklet. Next time I want to see the display actually roll up into a cylinder, without the need for a hard-plastic backing to support it.. maybe some kind of electro-sensitive memory strands that can make it stiff or pliable on demand?
Everyone seems to be complaining about the company involved, but I see this as a revolutionary development. The problem I've always had with tiny devices is tiny screens. It's great to have the ability to surf the web on your phone, but why bother when you got a 1"x1" little screen and have to squint the whole time. Watching movies on a 1.5"LCD just isn't really that attractive. With something like this applied more in the industry you could fold out your display when you are sitting about, fold it up when you need to move and never miss a step. Could be a great development for lots of mobile uses. Even if this model and company don't pan out, as long as the product makes it to market and wows a couple of people, it could indicate a trend that could expand into further possibilities, which is always a good thing.
Judges and senates have been bought for gold; Esteem and love were never to be sold.
Looks to be a very cool device. As far as I'm concerned though, it needs two additional things to make me want to purchase it over the iphone. First is the most obvious I think, which is color. Heck, I might even live with a 256 grey scale, but color is a definite must. Second, is a way to either show part of the display while in the closed position or to have a secondary display. Having a second display would rock as you could separate the phone functions from it's other duties, or place controls on the smaller display while reserving the larger display for content.
E-Ink finally coming of age? I just finished reading the new Dan Simmons novel on my E-Ink Sony Reader, thank you very much.
HA! I saw a prototype of e-Ink in 1994 at Monstanto's HQ. Try 13! Damn thing's been gestating longer than a snail fetus. And yes that's a lousy analogy because I can't begin to fathom any organism taking a decade and a half to get some press.
From the companys website:e cifications/Index.html
http://www.polymervision.com/Technology/CurrentSp
Current Specifications
- Contrast: 10:1.
- White reflectance: 35%-40%
- Switching time: 0,5-1s
- Optimum refresh rate: 50 Hz
- Number of pixels: 240 x 320 (quarter VGA - 4.8")
- Rolling radius: 0.75 cm
Wow, that blurb was... well...
It's just like the twenty or so folks who have "put in their name to start an exploratory committee to determine the chances of success in an election bid to become the next President of the United States..."
It's all just hot air and vapor.
[
It's:
"Hey! Damn Kids! Get off my blog!"
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
...OLED? And is OLED ever even going to actually come out?
The current issue of IEEE Spectrum magazine has a piece giving an overview of current E-Ink-based mobile displays, particularly how they relate to newspaper distribution. They don't mention this new product specifically, but hold out the notion of flexible E-Ink displays as near-future possibilities.
Reading through the book summary today gives me something of a deja-vu (on the heels of the UN report on the environment):
"The authors of the best seller ... depict in powerful detail a 21st-century Earth with devastated environment and rampant overpopulation. A rich and comfortable elite coexists with malnourished, pitiful billions, "the victim generation." The rich enjoy youth preservation treatments and other biomedical wonders while the rest just endure the toxicity and pollution."
The book was set in 2025. A deal today at $0.20!
I am not interested in articles about life extension advancements.
Nah, they are just waiting for Steve Jobs to show them how to make it insanely great and find a market for them
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
"While smaller than a typical mobile phone..."
Does this claim look foolish to anyone? Sure, this is smaller than the Nokia "brick" phones we used to carry around in the late 90s. I'm not living in any kind of wealthy community, and practically all the cell phones flip open. They're significantly smaller than the device pictured in the article
First we had to re-purchase all our LP and cassete music as CDs. At least they forgot to DRM it.
Then we had to re-purchase all our VHS videos as DVDs. At least they didn't try hard to DRM it.
Soon we'll have to re-purchase all our books in some E-ink format. Three guesses on how weak the DRM will be this time.
Not to mention the joy of scanning your "very out of print" books - one page at a time.
There's only small comfort knowing someone in Apple regrets the day he wasted "iBook" on a laptop line.
Now all we need is our flying cars!
See my Home Theater
Why does the rest of the device have to be as big as a large cellphone? Why can't those electronics fit into the same volume, but in a longer tube, like a magic wand, with mediaplayer and "open" controls along the side, and Bluetooth? That would fit in any pocket, and let a much larger area display roll out from the longer edge. Maybe even folded over in half (or more plies) to roll out, then fold out from a short rod into a large area.
Americans used to joke that the Soviets could build a briefcase nuke - but the batteries would be as big as an office building. The next generations of these rollable displays should contract to make superportable volumes snap into large areas on demand.
--
make install -not war
I can see it now E-ink TP you can ready your stocks then wipe your a$$ with it after.
"Better to be an open sinner than a false saint"
It's probably in a few books. I remember this shown as the cellphone of the near future on TV in Earth:Final Conflict(mm. 1996 or so). Second was Red Planet(2000) where this roll-out was a PDA and mapping device. I'm supposing it was easy to make the effect work in film and TV CGI but producing a tough, flexible screen is another matter.
"I got it all together but I forgot where I put it."
Next time I want to see the display actually roll up into a cylinder
Yes! I want to carry my information wrapped around a cylinder. Then writing will truly have come full circle.
Actually, now that I think about it, there was an earlier form of writing than scrolls: writing on a "tablet" with a "stylus." However, this was before the invention of pockets.
What if I do the same thing, and I do get different results?
Mine is way cooler
Best "String" Ever!
Waiting for a ball-point pen sized device with one of these. Bah. Roll-out display. That's so 20th century thinking...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Papyrus -> Scrolls -> Vellum -> Paper -> Carbon paper -> Electronic printouts -> Electronic displays -> EInk -> Rollable Scrolls
Have fun: Join D.N.A. (National Dyslexics Association)