Mirasol Color Display Goes On Sale

As I mentioned yesterday, Qualcomm debuted its new full color Mirasol e-paper display on a 5.7" Android tablet, with a 30-frame-per-second refresh rate for smooth scrolling and video. That tablet went on sale today.



The Kyobo eReader is now shipping in Korea where the book retailer Kyobo is based. Retailing at around $300, the device features a 1024x768 capacitive touch screen with front-lit LEDs for illuminated reading in dim light. The reader sports a 1Ghz processor running Android 2.3, and is WiFi only. No mention was made of its memory specs, but battery life is estimated at about 3 weeks, which is impressive. That factor alone should make it catch the attention of western device retailers. If user reviews are good expect to see next year's incarnation of the Kindle Touch in color.



For anyone who's interested, Mirasol's technology works essentially by refracting ambient light through tiny prism-like mirrors which rotate or "flip" magnetically to display a given color. Although these reflective particles are microscopic, they require a small amount of space to spin about, an "air gap" between the glass and surface. This is why I laughed so hard the other day when Barnes & Noble touted their new Nook Tablet as the first display without an air gap, as if that was somehow a major innovation.



The video below gives a brief demonstration of the Kyobo screen's refresh rate and color capabilities. To me it still looks a bit pastel, but it's certainly got speed and color. Color intensity and contrast will improve with time. I would like to have seen the screen demonstrated in a darker room to see how the LED illumination looks, but since it's only available in Korea at present it's a mute point for me anyway.