Qualcomm Mirasol display by Christmas? Plastic Logic's Que vaporizing

QUALCOMM MIRASOL color e-paper technology may be on multiple e-readers by Christmas, if you can believe deadlines given during demos.

Pocket-lint's Rik Henderson headlines that this 5.7 in. device with super-thin static display ... "may be heading Amazon's way."

The article mentions that, at a demo, Qualcomm included "a strong hint that the next Amazon Kindle is to adopt the tech" but I saw it more as an avoidance of an answer.

  I'd not realized just how battery-efficient the technology is.  I've been interested in the new Samsung Galaxy S cell phone using super AMOLED, which has extremely high contrast and strong colors.

  Here is their analysis of the light battery hit when using Mirasol's reflective full color display:

' Mirasol's screen, which is now capable of being manufactured at any size, is colour, can run video content, and requires only 1mW of power to run. In comparison, a similarly sized TFT LCD screen requires 20mW, and an AMOLED display needs a staggering 100-700mW. That essentially means that battery life will be greatly enhanced on a Mirasol-laden device.
. . .
The company aims to have one or more ebook readers on the market by the end of 2010, beginning of 2011, and is working towards building the technology into iPad multimedia devices by 2013...
. . .
"Activity will come from the e-reader sector first," said Cheryl Goodman, director of marketing, Qualcomm MEMS Technologies.  "We are working towards the end of the year, beginning of next, and with multiple vendors." '

  Now, I personally don't consider the content of the next quote "a hint" at all, although Pocket-lint does (Qualcomm, however, has given heavy hints about Amazon in the recent past), but here is the reason given for the writer's optimism about Amazon's possible involvement:

' And while she won't confirm who those manufacturers/suppliers are, when asked if the Kindle will be part of the Mirasol roll-out, Goodman teasingly told Pocket-lint, "multiple deals are in the queue." '

? Maybe there was a twinkle in the eye or something, but the words themselves don't tell me anything.

  There six other photos at the website.

Mobile Entertainment's Tim Green interpreted Qualcomm's answer on the Kindle question as a "no comment" but writes that Qualcomm's marketing director, Cheryl Goodman, "confirmed that contracts have been signed and that the screen tech would be in 5.7 inch e-readers before the year is out."

  Points made by Henderson:

' Mirasol's big boast is a MEMS-based tech that displays perfectly in sunlight and offers a battery life between the weeks offered by electrophoretic readers, and the ten hours offered by iPad.

  Goodman explained [as did Henderson] that it takes one milliwatt to power a Mirasol display, and 100 milliwatts to power an equvalent AMOLED screen.

  What's more, a Mirasol screen will need virtually no extra power to display an image once its loaded.

"Battery power is a huge issue and all the new features in phones are adding extra pressure. But still it's the display that drains the battery the most, so we're very excited about what Mirasol can do," she said.
. . .
She added that Mirasol trials have delivered 30 frames per second rates and that the tech can also support optical and resistive touchscreen functions. '

Production copies seldom meet early timetables though.

PLASTIC LOGIC now vaporware?
And this week we've seen that one timetable missed several times from a promising outfit, Plastic Logic (Que tablet), which has now cancelled existing pre-orders and refunded that money and is not taking new pre-orders, while giving no date this time when the planned business-oriented tablet might ever see the light of day

Wired/GadgetLab's Priya Ganapati points out that the reason for April's delay was a need to "refine" the product and that this is the reason given this time too, accompanied by what is perceived by most as a shutting of the door when pre-orders are cancelled and no new date is given.

See Wired's article for Plastic Logic's interesting wording in its cancellation email.

Earlier Kindleworld blog articles on Plastic Logic:
  . Plastic Logic interface demo at the D7 Conference - June 2009
  . B & N and Plastic Logic 2010 - The Focus - Update - July 2009
  . Costs of delivering a newspaper on the Kindle - May 2009

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