E Ink Corporation is expanding the uses of its Vizplex paper-like displays with new design wins in the mobile phones and eye-catching demos in magazines. While use of the technology in phones is not new, its use as the secondary display is - and you would be surprised at how big the display is - 2.7" on one model. This is the size of traditional main displays so there isn’t even a category for secondary displays of this size - very cool. In addition, the company’s technology will be featured on the cover of Esquire magazine as a way to show moving advertisements - very cool squared.

Paul Beatty
Analyst

For its 75th anniversary, the September issue of Esquire magazine will incorporate an animated flashing display within its cover saying, "The 21st Century Begins Now." This is part of an advertisement sponsored by Ford for its new minivan-sport utility vehicle called the Flex.

The display will only be incorporated into about 14% of its circulation. However, this demonstration will also whet the appetite for electronic newspapers and magazines, which are about to hit the market. Esquire has exclusive use of E Ink technology through 2009, so is motivated to help ignite the market.

The magazine displays are part of E Ink’s new range of improved segmented displays, which are thinner for greater flexibility, ruggedness and lighter weight. Also, they have a greater temperature range, which are obviously useful in products exposed to heating from strong sunlight where LCDs can sometimes fade (see our report in June’s Mobile Display Report).

In mobile handsets comes news of two new products that will feature E Ink displays. Both are being launched by Casio Hitachi Mobile Communications Company (www.ch-mobile.com), a joint venture between Casio and Hitachi. One handset was launched three months ago with the second one coming out next week. According to Sriram Peruvemba, Vice President of Marketing at E Ink, these are the first of a family of products that will be marketed independently by Hitachi and Casio. Both are also offered by service provider KDDI in Japan.

Perhaps the most interesting offering is the W61H handset from Hitachi. This is a clam-shell type phone and offers the 2.7" diagonal display on its outside surface - the first phone to take advantage of the design opportunities provided by the power-free display memory of this ‘bistable’ display. If necessary, the display memory feature can retain an image for at least a year.

Designed by the famous Japanese designer, Sekiyurio, it is made to resemble a perfume bottle. The display can scroll through a choice of 96 different images, including animation when a call is received or the clamshell phone is opened (see collage photo of some of the images). Although monochrome, there is a choice of color available and in a sense it can substitute for the choice of ’skin’ patterns and colors.
The other design win highlighted by E Ink was the Casio ‘G’z One’ phone, which will be launched by the beginning of August. This handset features the black strip display shown on the photo, which displays digitsand some icon information.

E Ink has been into mobile displays before but as a primary display for a simpler phone from Motorola called Motofone. Actually, this sold some 10M units and for E Ink was a big hit, both in terms of volume and in terms of reliability in the field. "The return rate has been astonishingly low - almost nothing," commented Peruvemba.

Of course, these secondary displays carry some premium pricing during the introductory phase, but offer advantages like sunlight visibility, wide viewing angle and negligible power compared with back lit monochrome LCDs. "Fashion is the key driver in today’s world" said Peruvemba, "and E Ink offers new design possibilities and brings fashion to the front of mobile phones."

E Ink’s new motto is: E Ink on every smart surface. That’s not a bad way of looking at the potential that paper-like and flexible displays will offer. Peruvemba summed it up by saying, "These displays are going where none have gone before." Let’s hope they succeed in providing a moving experience for everyone!

For an expanded version of this story including developments in e-book readers, see the August issue of Mobile Display Report. Insight Media will also soon publish a comprehensive report on the e-paper display market opportunity. Stay tuned.