Pixel Qi seems to be the only company right now that might pose a challenge to E-Ink Technologies. They are developing a new screen based on LCD that can work in low power electronic paper mode as well as the regular (back-lit) mode. [Link]
Mary Lou Jepsen is a tech necromancer who battled the odds to conjure up a product that most experts said couldn’t be built: a $100 laptop (give or take a few twenties). Now she’s back, with plans for low-cost, low-power, super-readable, LCD-based screens that will go into everything from e-book readers to netbooks and computers.
“We are creating e-paper with color and video capability, but on high volume, standard, mass production lines, so they will be available easily,” says Jepsen, founder of Pixel Qi (pronounced Pixel Chee), a San Bruno, California-based startup. The company plans to have samples of its display out within the next two months, “and we are pulling all-nighters now to get the product ready.”
Jepsen was the chief technical officer and first employee of the One Laptop per Child’s XO computer, and she was charged with making the cheap computer technically feasible. A low-power LCD was the cornerstone of that effort. Now, Jepsen wants to take her OLPC experience — and her 48 display-related patents — to market with a for-profit company.
Pixel Qi’s displays called 3Qi will operate in three settings: a full-color, bright, conventional LCD mode; a very low-power, sunlight-readable, reflective e-paper mode; and a low-power, basic color transflective mode. The screens are initially expected to be available in 10.5-inch and 7.5-inch screen sizes.
No comments:
Post a Comment