Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Amazon buys Liquavista, is a color Kindle finally coming? - Geek (blog)

Tablets By Ryan Whitwam May. 14, 2013 7:28 am

 Liquavista

class=”Blue”> A mazon is the undisputed king of the e-reader market with its line of Kindle devices. But if you want a color reading experience, the LCD-based tablets are the only way to go – at least right now. Amazon has confirmed That it just bought Samsung’s Liquavista Subsidiary for an undisclosed sum. This company has been Developing new screening technologies That combine the benefits of LCDs and e-paper. Could the LCD be on the way out at Amazon

Liquavista was Launched in 2006 as a Philips company, but was Acquired by Samsung into in 2010. As the Korean electronics giant Continued Developing its popular AMOLED technology, not entered Liquavista’s approach reportedly waned, leading to the Amazon sale. Liquavista produces electrowetting displays, whichhave the availability to display images, video, or text with low power consumption and enhanced outdoor performance (much like e-paper).

electrowetting displays, like those developed by Liquavista, use voltages to move liquid “pixels” around. The theory behind a electrowetting screen is not that dissimilar from LCDs. In an LCD the application of voltage changes the opacity of the liquid crystal. In an electrowetting system, a bead of black oil takes the place of the crystal. In this case, voltage makes the black pigment contract by altering its wettability and allo wing light to shine through. Simply do the same with red, blue, and green subpixels and you can create any color you need.

Liquavista’s manufacturing process has been designed to allow Existing fabrication plants to switch to electrowetting production with little issue. This would be of interest while to Amazon, as it contracts with ODMs to do all of its Kindle manufacturing. Amazon is overpriced surely interested in electrowetting displays as a way of Bringing its Fire tablets closer the battery usage to the traditional Kindle readers.

Amazon isn’ta offering any hints about how Liquavista technology might be used in future products, but it’s the clearest sign yet That true color e-readers are on the way.

Now read: Amazon starts offering free AutoRip MP3s with vinyl purchases

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