The next generation of e-books previewed.
One of the reasons iPad has been held up as a Kindle-killer is its technological advances: particularly its colour screen and ability to show video and animation as well as text and images.
But e-reader devices aren't going to stand still. Qualcomm's Cheryl Goodman took the stage at M-Publishing today to talk about the company's MEMS Technologies subsidiary, and its Mirasol technology.
She explained the biomimicry processes used for Mirasol screens, reflecting light to create colour. It's the same thing that makes butterfly wings shimmer, apparently.
"How does this relate to publishers, and why should you care about it?" said Goodman? "The number one pain point for consumers with mobile devices is battery life."
She pointed out that while the first e-readers have mimicked print publications with their e-ink displays - and achieved a long battery life as a result - but that expectations have changed among consumers, who want colour and video.
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"We're really in a new era of e-readers," said Goodman. "We are asking our devices to do multiple things, and there is a lot of pressure on the device to continue to perform, yet battery technology has not fundamentally changed in the last decade."
Qualcomm's argument - and this is a pitch for Mirasol, remember - is that device makers must pay even more attention to sourcing components that are as un-battery-sapping as possible.
Goodman said the sweet spot will be devices that have battery life between the weeks offered by e-ink readers, and the ten hours offered by iPad.
Qualcomm reckons a Mirasol display used in a device for a mixture of book and magazine reading, web surfing, video and content downloads could give 15.6 hours of battery life.
"That's really where we see the market," she said.
