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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."
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
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.
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.
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
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.
I believe that the poster meant to say, "Seven years after I noticed it..."
Electronic Paper was invented at Xerox in the 1970's. It's a LOT older than seven years. The only reason why people are noticing it is that advances in electronics are slowly making it practical.
It's a bit like Plasma displays. The stock market used a massive monochrome unit for decades before consumers jumped on "this newfangled Plasma TV thingy!"
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade