Lilbits: Color E Ink comes at a cost, a high-power Linux laptop, and more

The first eBook reader with color E Ink displays have arrived and they’re… a mixed bag, apparently.

Nathan from  The eBook Reader has posted a video comparing the display on the Onyx BOOX Poke2 Color and the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite:

We already knew that E Ink’s new Kaleido color display technology had some trade-offs: they can display grayscale or color imagery, but a screen that can show 300 pixels per inch in black and white is limited to 100 pixels per inch in color.

But it turns out the Poke2’s display is also darker than the Kindle Paperwhite’s screen, and it looks grainier (or if you look closely enough, it looks like someone placed a screen door over the display).

This is because the Kaleido display technology places a color filter over the top of a normal E Ink display. What we’re seeing is apparently that filter. The upshot is that you can view up to 4096 colors, allowing you to read digital comics, magazines, or even websites and videos in color. They look sort of like newsprint.

The downside is that you’ll need to do a full screen refresh on every page load when viewing color, otherwise you’ll see artifacts. And in color or black and white modes, you’ll be stuck with a darker, grainier looking display.

I could still see some people accepting that trade-off in order to get a device with a low-power, high-contrast, sunlight viewable color display. But at this point color eReaders also cost a lot more than their black and white counterparts, which makes the new technology a bit of a tough sell.

The Onyx Boox Poke2 Color, for example, costs $299, while a black and white model with the same specs sells for $110 less.

Here’s a roundup of recent tech news from around the web.

• Color E Ink Review [The eBook Reader/YouTube]
  This video review looks at the color E Ink “Kaleido” display on the Onyx BOOX Poke2 Color eReader, and compares it with a black and white Kindle Paperwhite display. The color looks good… but comes at a cost.
• Pine64 August Update [Pine64]
  Among other things, Pine64 gives a first look at the (likely/possible) design for the PineBook pro docking station, plus updates on some new PinePhone Linux smartphone projects (including a DIY effort to add a fingerprint read).
• IBM Reveals Next-Generation IBM POWER10 Processor [IBM]
  IBM introduces POWER10 processor, the company’s first 7nm processor. It’s said to bring up to 3X improvements in energy efficiency, container density, and workload capacity compared to POWER9, and it should show up in systems in the second half of 2021.
• SiFive Announces OpenFive, an Industry-Leading Custom Silicon Business Unit [SiFive]
  RISC-V chip designed SiFive has launched a new subsidiary called OpenFive which will also work with RISC-V, ARM, and other ISAs (instruction set architecture). This opens the door for mixed-ISA chips that combine two or more architectures.
• System76 has a new Bonobo WS Linux laptop (mobile workstation) on the way [@jeremy_soller]
  System76 is working on a new GNU/LInux laptop with a *lot* of horsepower and open source firmware.

Intel i9-10900K
128 GB 3200 MHz DDR4
NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super
4 M.2 slots
97 Wh battery
Amplified speakers and subwoofer

In a laptop running coreboot?

Yep

It makes the Oryx Pro look like a Lemur Pro, and I can’t wait to offer it.

It’s like using an M1 Abrams as your daily driver

— Jeremy Soller (@jeremy_soller) August 14, 2020

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