Currently most of the popular portable ebook readers are using eInk technology to display text, graphs, and pictures on the screens.  But there are starting to emerge competitors which bring with them promises of color, flexible, higher resolution, and easier-to-read devices.

Here’s an update on what’s going on in the world of electronic paper:

• PVI eInk
  • PVI is the company that owns the eInk technology in the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader, as well as other devices
  • Currently the leader in ePaper technology
  • Uses electrophoretic technology
  • Future plan – color and flexible screens within 2 years, video within 4 years
• Fujitsu FLEPia
  • The first company to make a color ebook reader!
  • Also has touchscreen functionality
  • Once Fujitsu brings prices down, they could have a serious Kindle competitor
  • Future plan – no ETA on when video will be available
• Pixel Qi LCD
  • Been in development for only one year
  • Uses advanced LCD and OLPC technology, so will be fairly cheap to manufacture
  • Already supports color and video!
  • Future plan -  take over the ereader market
• Qualcomm Mirasol
  • Uses reflective technology called Interferometric MODulation (IMOD) with Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) – basically a lot of big words that only super smart people understand
  • Inspiration reportedly comes from looking at how butterfly wings work – cool!
  • There’s already a few products using this technology and a bunch more in development, including a couple mobile phones
  • Already supports color and video.   Requires very low power usage and is viewable in direct sunlight.
  • Future plan – unknown
• BridgeStone QR-LPD
  • Quick Response Liquid Particle Display (QR-LPD) uses particles suspended in air rather than in link (like eInk)
  • Already in use in stores in Asia
  • Already has color and touchscreen functionality!
  • Future plan – no ETA on when electronic reading devices will be sportin’ this cool tech
• Plastic Logic
  • Designed with business users in mind
  • It’s extremely flexible, has touchscreen, is unbreakable, and can be quite large if needed
  • Uses Organic Thin Film Transistors (OTFT) which is cheaper than silicon
  • Future  plan – color and video to come in the next couple years
• LiquaVista
  • A child company of Philips
  • Uses electrowetting technology that is great for video playback
  • Compatible with LCDs
  • Flexible, has color and of course video, and has 3 operational modes – reflective, transflective, and transmissive
• ASU Flexible Display
  • Has over $100 million in investment including from HP and the US Army
  • Primary design is for the screens and they borrow existing technologies to “ink” the displays
  • Uses Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED), eInk, and Kent Displays
  • Already supports video and color
• Gamma Dynamics EFD
  • Based out of the University of Cincinnati’s Novel Devices Lab
  • Uses electrofluidic displays (EFD) which have a greater than 85% reflectance to white (very impressive)
  • Supports video
  • Is flexible and very durable
  • Not in commercial use yet; no word on when this will happen
• Opalux P-Ink
  • Design based off the structure of opals and uses photonic chrystals
  • Supports video and color
  • Can diffract and reflect different colors based on how the ePaper is structured
  • Extremely flexible and durable

Well that’s definitely a lot to take in.   Hopefully that helps you get some understanding of all the development that’s going on to advance portable ebook readers and make them easier to use and read.