Electronic paper displays are most commonly found in eBook readers like the Kindle or NOOK line of products. But sometimes they show up in wearables, digital signage, or even smartphones. One place they haven’t really been used much? Notebooks.
But it looks like at least one company is going to give that a try.
Ahead of the Hong Kong Electronics Fair eBook maker Onyx has put out a brochure showcasing some of the company’s new products.
There are a few eBook readers with 6 inch screens, larger models with 9.7 inch, 10.3 inch, and 13.3 inch displays, and one unusual product: a device with a 9.7 inch display and a physical keyboard.
According to Google Translate, the notebook-style device is called the Onyx Boox Typewriter, suggesting that it’s not so much a laptop computer as a device for writing on the go.
It wouldn’t be the company’s only device designed for writing. The upcoming 10.3 inch model is said to support both touch and stylus input, allowing you to jot notes or drawings on the screen. And Onyx already sells a 13.3 inch pen-and-touch E Ink slate called the Onyx Boox Max.
via MobileRead and The Digital Reader
After the death of pixel qi and mirasol, I began to dream of a reversible 2-in-1 style like the old ferris wheel hinge XPS 12, where you had your traditional display on one side, and a fully mirrorable eink screen on the other. It’d be nice to write outside more. But even on the brightest screens the visibility just sucks.
I hope they put some true Linux there (Debian will be nice enough), not just their’s homebrew ROM.
Looks like they are going after the old word processor machines that came out when desktop computers were $1,500 – $2,000. They had basic displays and typically saved to 3.5″ floppy discs. That was all that was needed to type large amounts of text. Great for book writers I guess. Now that computers are cheap I really don’t see the need for something like this…unless you want to write that novel out in the wilderness and need days/weeks of battery life.
E-ink is better on the eyes than back lit screans and often the devices have less distractions
This is exactly what people like me have been waiting for all these years. This is a perfect device for writers.
In some sense, yes. In a broader scope of application, the restriction to PDFs only, an unknown operating system and 4b grey scale, use is limited. Tests need to study actual view of the display outdoors in sunlight. The display ratio 1.21 and very low weight are great for sure.
Oops, I wrote this for Sony’s new device, but this here is the page for Onyx’s new device. Sorry.