Tough Year Ahead for E-Reading

2013 wasn’t a great year for e-readers. Sales of the devices continued to decline and a study released in December found that 60% of the consumers who downloaded e-books never read them. Michael Kozlowski, editor of the blog goodereader.com, is predicting more of the same in 2014.

First, E Ink will start moving away from e-reader technology. The e-reader business has been losing ground to tablet technology for more than a year and Kozlowski wrote that expansion into the digital signage market will be its next move.

The E Ink shift away from e-reader technology may be helped along if Kozlowski is right about Barnes and Noble. He predicted that since B&N makes more money on digital content sales, it will decide to give up on the Nook. He also expects Sony to give up on its e-reading devices to focus more on tablet and multimedia-based experiences.

He also predicted declines in both reading on tablet devices and e-books in general.

Reading on tablets will decline because manufacturers will move away from producing as many tablets in favor of more smartphones in 2014, which should produce more smartphone readers. Or maybe, with e-book sales flat or in decline throughout 2013, people will just head back to hardcover and paperback books.

“With the way things have gone in 2013 in the e-reader and tablet sector, some people may be optimistic about the future,” Kozlowski wrote. “I, for one, am not.”

E-Ink Technology Enhanced and Refocused

E-ink spurred the e-reader revolution as technology that provided devices featuring easy-to-read displays and long battery life. Then, the high-resolution color screens and multitasking capabilities of tablet computers came along and shoved e-readers to the side, according to analyst firm iSuppli, which reported e-reader sales fell from 23 million units in 2011 to 15 million in 2012.

“Tablets are good and getting better,” Alva Taylor, faculty director for the Center of Digital Strategies at Dartmouth University, told Technology Review. “I think there are multiple technologies that beat the experiences that e-ink provides. To me, e-ink is like duct tape as a product. They are never going to be as good as nuts and bolts and screws. But for certain kinds of small applications, they are perfect.”

Those small applications are exactly what the firm E Ink is focused on.

While E Ink continues to work on color for its displays, it’s also finding uses for the technology in flexible devices that require a tiny battery, making the firms in the emerging smartwatch market potential customers. The technology could also turn up in three-color store signs, while improvements are being made to provide enhanced readability, smoother page turns, and even lower power consumption on e-readers.

Delta Electronics to work on 3D e-paper in 2011

According to a posting on E-Reader-info.com, a company called Delta Electronics will soon begin mass producing color e-paper displays. The company says that their screen has a faster refresh rate than E Ink displays. Delta Electronics also says that 3D e-paper is possible and it will be a major focus for the company in 2011.

New type of e-paper

A recent Ars Technica article discusses a new type of e-paper that is currently in development. The screen is being developed by Gamma Dynamics and is said to be more advanced than the E Ink screens that are used on many e-readers today. According to the article, the screen is much brighter but it does not use more power. It is also has a much faster refresh rate than the current E Ink screens. More information is available here.

e-reader happenings

While the blog highlights many of the digital happenings affecting our industry, there is often more going on than we have a chance to cover each week. Here is a round-up of some of the recent e-reader news.

• According to Computerworld, Sony may be working on a device to compete with the Apple iPad.
• According to Engadget, Prime View International (PVI), maker of e-paper displays for e-readers, will introduce color, flexible, and touchscreen displays later this year.
• Asustek is planning to launch its first e-reader, the Eee Book, at the Computex Taipei 2010 electronics show beginning on June 1. PC World says that Asustek is also planning to launch a tablet to compete with the iPad. The tablet could be available later this year.
• According to the New York Times, the JooJoo tablet is now in full production. Meanwhile, a legal battle between the creators of the device is ongoing.
• According to Engadget, LG is working on a device to compete with Apple and Amazon. Details have not been released but the device could hit the market by April.
• Micro-Star International (MSI) is preparing to launch a tablet later this year.
• The Bits Blog has an interesting posting about whether or not e-readers really cause eye strain
• DigitalBeat and GreenBiz discuss the “green” aspects of the Apple iPad and if e-reader devices can help save the planet
  

E Ink partners with Marvell

Earlier this month, E Ink announced that it will partner with Marvell, a manufacturer of microprocessors, to produce a series of integrated processors for e-readers and other electronic devices. An article from Publishers Weekly says that the new technology will integrate the two microprocessors contained in many of the e-readers that are available today which could help reduce the price and improve the performance of e-readers. In addition, it could reduce power consumption to extend battery life and allow for easier integration of wireless connectivity. The new technology will be included in the Plastic Logic Que and the enTourage eDGe e-readers that are due out early next year.

45 e-readers feature e-paper screens

According to a posting from the Financial Times blog, there are now at least 45 e-reader devices with e-paper screens available worldwide and several more are expected in the foreseeable future. Sriram Peruvemba, marketing vice president at E Ink, commented that the current price of e-readers has prevented the devices from becoming mainstream but the prices are falling and we could see a device under $100 within three or four years time. The drop in price along with the introduction of color e-paper which E Ink plans to introduce next year, could make e-reader mass market products in the near future.

In a related story, the Kindle Review blog recently featured a great posting with a detailed list of 31 e-book readers that are either on the market or expected to hit the market in the coming months. The posting makes a useful reference for deciphering among the e-readers and should be updated soon to also include pictures or videos of each e-reader.

E-Paper round-up

The Kindle review blog recently featured a great posting which includes details and video demos of all the latest e-paper technologies. For additional information about these technologies, the folks at the Epaper Central website have put together an informative “E-paper Technologies Reference Guide.”

Phillips develops new e-paper technology that is closer to printed paper

An article from Technology Review says that Phillips Research has developed a new method for creating color e-paper displays that will be three times brighter than the current color displays. The method is known as in-plane electrophoretics, and it uses colored particles rather than color filters which are used in E Ink. The display is brighter with colored particles because color filters require four subpixels for each full-color pixel which reduces the resolution and the brightness of the display. The technology is still very new and Sri Peruvemba, vice president of marketing at E-Ink, predicts that it will take at least three years for it to hit the market. When the technology is available, it will offer some distinct advantages over color filters because it relies on cheaper and simpler electronics and it is more suitable for creating flexible displays.