MWC 2010: Qualcomm set to bring colour video to the e-reader market

Qualcomm, Qualcomm, Qualcomm; first you supercharge our smartphones with your Snapdragon processor, and now you’re looking to beef up our e-readers too. How can we ever thank you?

By writing this gushing post, obviously.

Qualcomm have been working away at a new kind of display technology that they are calling Mirasol. By using “interferometric modulation”, their 5.7 inch prototype e-reader unit can not only display colour pages, but awesome colour video too.

It works using a similar principle to the effect that makes butterfly wings sparkle in sunlight. A mirrored surface dotted with electrically charged membranes allows incoming light to be refracted and the interference caused produce colour. It negates the need for battery-draining backlights and makes the display even more readable when in direct sunlight.

Qualcomm reckon they’ll have the tech in a device by the end of the year, so the Kindle and Plastic Logic Que e-readers better have something real cool up their sleeves if this isn’t to make them look real dated pretty quickly.

Via: Pocket Lint

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