During the recent Taipei International Book Fair, Qualcomm announced yet another e-reader based on Mirasol display technology, the Kobee Jin Yong. This device is named after a popular author in China and it comes with a 5.7 inch 1024 x 768 pixel display and a 1 GHz Snapdragon S2 processor, plus Android 2.3 Gingerbread in a customized experience.
In case the Mirasol technology doesn’t mean much to you, know that it uses some of the advantages of the E-Ink, for example better power consumption when pixels change and some abilities of the LCD, like the color and refresh rate. Mirasol is used right now on a bunch of higher end eBook readers, but it doesn’t replace LCDs just yet, as it’s not that cost effective right now. This tech was used on small screens and prototypes a bunch of years ago and now it’s evolving into a full fledged technology alternative.
The pricing is not yet clear for the Kobee Jin Yong, but I expect the amount of money you pay for it to be pretty high. Qualcomm’s Mirasol technology is said to be the solution to extended Android device battery lives to days. The screens used the interferometric modulator display technology to create different colors through the interference of reflected light. That gives the device they’re on a power consumption of a tenth or less compared to a LCD one.
