One of the big problems when you are breaking a completely new area of technology is finding some revenues along the way, before you are ready with your full product line, and that has to be the category we place the recent efforts of PixelQi, announcing this week that it has a way of getting its hybrid e-ink/backlit LCD screens into play before manufacturers are ready to buy them in bulk quantities.
After two days on the company’s web site, all of its available stock was sold out, although the company never gave an indication of how many screens that was.
The company signed a deal with Make magazine to introduce the 3Qi display, a plug-and-play 10.1 inch display to the DIY community. E-ink is a high resolution technology which uses mostly ambient light ‘ reflection, and a persistent display which refreshes slowly, as used in eReaders ‘ instead of relying on a backlit, rapidly refreshed display. Backlit displays take up most of the power used in a modern laptop, which is why the Amazon Kindle has a battery life of two weeks when the average Notebook has a battery life closer to 1.5 hours. Another advantage is that e-ink can be easily seen in harsh sunlight, in fact the brighter the better.
So by offering screens to the DIY community through Make Magazine (do-it-yourself for technology) the idea is that innovators could buy a screen to go with existing netbooks, which allows them to take them outside in the sunlight. However the price, at $275, is almost the cost of the Netbook you are improving.
The Pixel Qi screen uses the same LCD crystals for both functions, reflective or backlit, and still has about the same efficiency, speed and resolution as a standard LCD when backlit. Pure e-ink screens usually offer poor resolution and color when watching video or images.
Dan Woods, GM of MAKE’s Ecommerce said, ‘We’re seeing a lot of interest in making and modding tablets, netbooks and e-readers within the maker community, and we’re always looking for innovative new ways to help inspire and support DIY enthusiasts to take on new challenges.
‘Getting a brand new technology like Pixel Qi’s screen into the hands of developers and makers who will do something unusual, compelling and unexpected with it is tremendously exciting to us,’ he added.
Screens have to be swapped over, usually breaking the manufacturers warranty by unscrewing the original screen, but among the Make community the expression ‘Void Your Warranty’ is viewed more as an encouragement than an admonition.