Bridgestone preps color, flexible, touchscreen e-paper
updated 05:35 pm EDT, Tue October 27, 2009
13-inch Bridgestone e-paper has color touch
Known more lately for its display technology, Bridgestone has just unveiled one of the most advanced e-paper displays yet. The 13-inch screen renders 4,096 colors and also supports touch input. A demo to Tech-On also shows both the display and circuitry to be flexible and capable of bending to a slight but noticeable curve without breaking.
The panel works by using "liquid powder" that achieves the same easy-to-read, extremely low-power effect of grayscale e-paper. Despite the relatively new technology, it can still refresh in a similar timeframe of about 0.8 seconds. Bridgestone adds that its prototype can work for basic computing tasks and tether to a cellphone to get online data.
Trials of a device based on the display should start in Japan during spring 2010 as an assistance system at a bank, but the company hasn't said if or when it plans to produce an e-book reader or another mainstream device.
