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Two of my favorite gadgets are the PlayBook and my Kindle, and as much as I love the PB and as good as the screen is, it's no match for the Kindle's e-ink screen in daylight, especially in direct sunlight.
So that's why I think a future PlayBook should have an e-ink screen on the back. As far as I can tell the Kindle screen is pretty tough.
What do you think? Good or crazy idea :)
Wouldn't that make a really thick device?
E-ink screen is very thin, no thicker than the PB's current plastic casing probably.
It will look crazy ;)
Nah, think about it, you can make it black, white, or different designs or photos like the Kindle has on standby.
So it looks like those ruskies at YOTA stole my idea lol.
A few years ago, I was telling my colleagues I will buy a blackberry tablet with e-ink display in a heartbeat if it let me read emails and documents on a big and comfortable-to-look-at screen. I knew it would not happen, and it did not, because the mass market want color for media consumption. RIM was not crazy enough like Nikon was rolling out a professional film camera F6 in 2004 when everyone knew films had no future as mainstream photography. I bought a F6 by the way.
I sincerely hope you are right this time and again I will buy in a heartbeat. If you are crazy, so am I.
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I've seen this idea, and I think it's innovative. I don't think it's ideal for tablets though, because it's basically a one use feature on a tablet. On smartphones on the other hand, it could be used to constantly update info, for example, stock ticker, or news feeds, or message notifications that are always on. I don't think it will become a mainstream feature, but one that could possibly catch on with subset of users. A lot will depend on the additional cost to attach a second screen, both in money, and space. A tablet might benefit more from a cover with a screen, rather than a separate screen on the back.
I do hope this catches on, there's a million reasons why it should.
Think how cool a smartphone or tablet would look if the back is completely made out of a transparent strong plastic or even glass with the eink screen behind it, eink screens can be colour now, not just black and white, and they can be flexible.
In fact, what if the whole casing would be a big eink screen, possibly with a paperwhite like backlight? it could be used for reading/displaying information but also think what if your tablet/smartphone would be a different colour every day, or display a different design/photo every day.
here's a kickstarter e-ink case for the iPhone, if they can do that on a case, I don't see why they couldn't do one built into a tablet like the playbook.
Popslate launches iPhone 5 case with four-inch E Ink screen (video)
There's also a rumor of amazon doing this in the future
Amazon Could Put LCD and E-Ink in the Same Read-Anywhere Tablet
That's absolutely awesome!!!!!!!!!! Imagine that built in.
Attempted two years ago by the Notion ink Adam. Tried and failed. But the idea may still be valid, the Adam failed because of execution primarily.
It would be interesting if they included the PixelQi or Mirasol display, although PixelQi is the more versatile of the two.
PixelQi sort of combines eInk and LCD screens into one screen, with a way to toggle between the two. So, when you go outdoors, you can switch modes and it turns off the back light. The main question is how good is the LCD?
Mirasol is similar to eInk, but in color. I'm not sure if they have a way to back light it, though.
This Mirasol device looks amazing.
CTIA: Qualcomm Mirasol Display - YouTube
I own a kindle, it has 3G capabilities and all, thinner than a 9900
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