3Qi Screen Technology Shipping in Time for Apple Tablet?

[powers74]

iPad

If the Apple tablet uses this tech it is going to shake things up more than the iPhone did. Especially if they beat everyone else to it (released in first half of 2010). Still crossing my fingers for OSX, but not getting my hopes up.

 

[MikhailT]

If the Apple tablet uses this tech it is going to shake things up more than the iPhone did. Especially if they beat everyone else to it (released in first half of 2010). Still crossing my fingers for OSX, but not getting my hopes up.

I agree if they do use the Pixel Qi and it does meet the quality of an e-ink reading experience, it will not only succeed in both ebook industry and tablet industry, it will essentially merge them just like iPhone did with PDA and Cell phone industry. The e-ink might actually lose in this war.

 

[iMacmatician]

Did you just say iPhone OS for better battery life? Did you really just say that?

Compared to Mac OS X? I think so.

Secondly, the OS will probably be customized for the tablet, after all iPhone OS is just a slimmed down custom build based on the OS X. Three OS isn't horrible to maintain if they are all based on the same codebase with the top levels of the OS being different.

I'm expecting some level of customization but I also think it will be closer to iPhone OS than Mac OS X.

 

[Dr.Pants]

I'm expecting some level of customization but I also think it will be closer to iPhone OS than Mac OS X.

Same here. The processor, IMO, will be ARM, so no x86 OSX. It will have to use iPhone OS, hopefully with an addition for pen support.

 

[MacFly123]

This sounds good, but why has nobody mentioned the slight detail of Apple's $500 MILLION contract with LG for displays???

 

[t0mat0]

This sounds good, but why has nobody mentioned the slight detail of Apple's $500 MILLION contract with LG for displays???

Isn't Pixel Qi fabless? LG makes screens.

we work closely with the large LCD factories

I'd imagine the factory she talks of in one of the videos may well have been LG's.

 

[Dr.Pants]

This sounds good, but why has nobody mentioned the slight detail of Apple's $500 MILLION contract with LG for displays???

Watch the Youtube vids Arn posted. I would insanely enjoy the screen as an e-reader or a netbook. Watching the colours change from intense light to dim light was awesome, but at the same time, that colour change on a MBP isn't something I would look forward to.

 

[dicklacara]

Just to stir the pot a little...

Somewhere in one of those videos, Ms Jepsen mentions that they are also working on a low-cost, low-power HDTV.

Here:

http://www.pixelqi.com/products


I found this info.

Low-Cost, Very Low Power HDTV

We have begun design of a sub-10 watt HDTV that can be used in hundreds of millions of households that don't have steady, if any, access to electrical power. The typical HDTV uses more than 100 Watts and often draws several hunded watts. We are working on a way to massively lower the power consumption, and significantly lower the price with a target price of $100. Thus this HDTV can run off of battery that can be charged up when the power is on, or charged with a small solar panel, crank, or so forth.

More to follow, please contact Vivek@pixelqi.com for more information.



We are focused on the production of next-generation computing platform - we have both a long term vision and the first step products towards that vision - with an ASIC like approach. Pixel Qi is a fabless ASIC company that specializes in screens. The screen is just a big ASIC chip - we work closely with the large LCD factories. The trick - we use their standard processes and materials and can produce new screens with radical new performance in about a year. Rather than just a demo - we can get all the way to high volume mass production in a year. Compare this to other display technologies which take on average 20 years to first production, and perhaps never achieve high volume mass production. We are working on a variety of projects some of which our customers would like us to keep confidential.

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[dicklacara]

Stirring, stirring...

...Pixel Qi is a fabless ASIC company that specializes in screens...

Didn't Apple recently buy another fabless ASIC company?

What an interesting way to get into a business, create proprietary specialty components to gain a competitive advantage while not damaging their relationships with their component suppliers (actually suporting them).

Jepsen also mentioned that Pixel Qi had encountered difficulty geting funding from the VCs on Sand Hill Road.

Hmm... where could they find a pot of gold?

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[dicklacara]

Stirring, stirring, stirring... bing, the cake is done!

The potential of a low-cost, low-power ubiquitous device was the goal of OLPC.

SJ offered OS X as the OS for OLPC, but a special Linux and UI was selected.

In many ways the OLPC UI abstraction resembles the way the iPhone UI abstracts OS X.

Now, what if some company could make a lower-cost alternative to OLPC, say by reducing component costs, eliminating components (mouse, keyboard) reduce OS costs.

That company would have the opportunity to dominate the world(s) of computing devices and computing OSes...

OTPC, anyone?


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[powers74]

Otpc

SJ offered OS X as the OS for OLPC, but a special Linux and UI was selected.


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If that is a fact, this is all really starting to fall into place and make sense. It seems fairly likely to me that this is the tech of the new Apple device.

 

[dicklacara]

If that is a fact, this is all really starting to fall into place and make sense. It seems fairly likely to me that this is the tech of the new Apple device.

http://www.cultofmac.com/jobs_offered_os_x_for_100_laptop/109

Another interesting event is from the Pixel Qi site About Us page:

Dr. Carlin Vieri - VP of Engineering

Carlin Vieri joined Pixel Qi from Apple Computer where he engineered new generation display electronics for the iPhone and other devices. Previously he pioneered liquid crystal on silicon electronics backplanes, drive schemes and interfaces with the MicroDisplay Corporation, where he was Director of Electronics. He has a PhD in Electrical Engineering from MIT, and BS in Electrical Enginerring from UC Berkeley.


It is not that unusual for a company (like Apple) that is interested in a startup technology to provide executive and/or technical assistance to provide guidance to help the technology and act as an insider to evaluate it.


I did some googling and apparently the OLPC got to a price point just under $200 and has been (somewhat) a casualty of the economy... never reached its goal!


It appears that we may have a confluence of events: technology; manufacturing costs; content availability; need; opportunity.

What if Apple and say Disney, and a few publishers were to form a non-profit venture to deliver the promise of OLPC.

SJ has a rep as a real bastard... He's not!

This could be the ultimate legacy... to change the world!

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[Theclamshell]

Very intresting technlogy, would really fit into an imaginary Apple Tablet.

Also the 10" screen size and the low power technology and also the date available seem quite match the past rumors...

... but have you seen this image from their Website

That aluminium bezel and that round corners literally look very familiar to me.

What if the tablet was a screen that you can haul around but put on a stand so its like a mini acd and you could connect input devices to it and it could be portable and also a desktop!

 

[dicklacara]

What if the tablet was a screen that you can haul around but put on a stand so its like a mini acd and you could connect input devices to it and it could be portable and also a desktop!

Yes, certainly!

And, what if the Tableta was a kind of "co-equal" I/O device for a desktop like an iMac:

--You could use the Tableta as MultiTouch peripheral finger/stylus input to apps running on the Mac (or your AppleTV/HDTV)

-- You could drag and drop items from the Tableta to the iMac and vice-versa

-- Any iMac peripheral (Midi, Camera, etc) or app could use the Tableta as an additional display/speaker...

-- The family sits around the AppleTV (maybe in different rooms) each consuming a different movie, music, TV show, book on their personal Tableta

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[Maserati7200]

Same here. The processor, IMO, will be ARM, so no x86 OSX. It will have to use iPhone OS, hopefully with an addition for pen support.

Is no one considering the atom processor could be used? A low clocked Atom could work in a tablet...

 

[iMacmatician]

Is no one considering the atom processor could be used? A low clocked Atom could work in a tablet...

May be too slow for Mac OS X and its apps.

 

[dicklacara]

Is no one considering the atom processor could be used? A low clocked Atom could work in a tablet...

I think there are several considerations:

-- PASC can build a very low-power, high-speed, multi-core ARM that will run circles around the Atom CPU
-- it will be proprietary and not available to the competition
-- Apple can keep costs to a minimum
-- The special OS X version would be based on the proprietary chip so hacking it would be of no value
-- the integrated hardware/os "system" can be better protected from jailbreaking
-- to exploit the Tableta capabilities, you need to break from the mouse/kb/desktop paradigm
-- the iLife/iWork suites can be modified to exploit the "system" and satisfy the basic consumer and business-compatible data format needs of most target users

The Tableta will not be targeted a replacement for a desktop or a laptop. It will. however, provide all the capabilities that are practical on a netbook (and a lot more) with a much better user experience and an appropriate price point.

If it is just another crippled device, running a crippled desktop OS (that gets in between you and your stuff)... why bother?

Done right, every family member and every employee will have one!

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The RISC vs CISC war was never won or lost-- it just moved to a different battlefield!

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[powers74]

Another interesting event is from the Pixel Qi site About Us page:

Dr. Carlin Vieri - VP of Engineering

Carlin Vieri joined Pixel Qi from Apple Computer where he engineered new generation display electronics for the iPhone and other devices.
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yeah, I had that in mind when I made that comment. Everything just seems to make sense from Steve being in on the OLPC thing to at least the extent that he could offer OSX to be the OS, to this Vieri thing, to the sort of backhanded comment about having trouble getting funding from some of the big VCs in the valley, to the rumored size, and then the comment that they are working on a project "that they can't talk about yet". 'Cause you know, if this were for Dell or HP or anyone else, we would have all known about this thing a loooong time ago. Just, a lot of coincidences like that make it hard to believe it's just a lot of coincidences.

I literally have dreams about this thing! The problem is that they are more like nightmares, because in all the dreams, it comes out and it totally sucks! At least I can rest assured it will be better than the ones in my dreams.

 

[dicklacara]

yeah, I had that in mind when I made that comment. Everything just seems to make sense from Steve being in on the OLPC thing to at least the extent that he could offer OSX to be the OS, to this Vieri thing, to the sort of backhanded comment about having trouble getting funding from some of the big VCs in the valley, to the rumored size, and then the comment that they are working on a project "that they can't talk about yet". 'Cause you know, if this were for Dell or HP or anyone else, we would have all known about this thing a loooong time ago. Just, a lot of coincidences like that make it hard to believe it's just a lot of coincidences.

I literally have dreams about this thing! The problem is that they are more like nightmares, because in all the dreams, it comes out and it totally sucks! At least I can rest assured it will be better than the ones in my dreams.

Yeah, there are more "coincidences". In googling OLPC I ran across the name "Seymour Papert". This was a familiar name from my days at IBM, then later in the early world of microcomputers. He was a pioneer in computers for "learning" and the Logo programming language. There was always a standoffish mutual-respect relationship between Apple and IBM-- competing, on some levels, but respectful or even collaborating on others.

If [the tablet] "totally sucks", we'll never see it!

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[TraceyS/FL]

If what you guys are speculating is true.... i'll need 3 of them!

Maybe the child did me a HUGE favor when she turned up her nose at a netbook (and decided to keep the 12" iBook). Here is hoping we know something by the beginning of Feb so it can be a birthday gift.

 

[valanchan]

A tablet's battery life could be MORE crucial if it ends up being used in a hospital setting (like many, many tablets are being used in these days). If this is just a device to read books and play movies, then poor battery life is only an inconvenience. But if Apple wants this tablet used for more than just entertainment, they need to get battery life way, way up.

Done right, this could be a _killer_ device for use by nurses and techs in a hospital (or similar environments).

Of course there are uses that require a long battery life.
For consumers I can see a 4-5hr life acceptable.

2 types of screens could be offered a very dynamic screen with short battery life and the other less demanding screen but with at least 50% more battery life.

 

[peter1039]

Anyone thinking of buying shares in this company?

 

[dicklacara]

Anyone thinking of buying shares in this company?

My first thought, too.

But, I believe they are privately held-- Ms Jepsen talks about how difficult it is to get VC funding in todays investment climate.

Ms Jepsen and Mr Ryan (apparent principals) have management experience, technology experience and manufacturing connections. They do not fit the mold of a typical "startup" needing management assistance, industry connections, IPO guidance as well as venture capital.

I suspect that Apple may have supplied some investment capital and an insider to monitor their progress.

If they are where I think they are vis-a-vis bringing products to market they may be acquired before they go public.

Finally, the only way I can see getting any access to founder shares is if a friend of a friend can convince a founder to agree to to sell x % of their holdings at y $ before an IPO or acquisition... more as a favor to a friend than a major transaction.

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[dicklacara]

A tablet's battery life could be MORE crucial if it ends up being used in a hospital setting (like many, many tablets are being used in these days). If this is just a device to read books and play movies, then poor battery life is only an inconvenience. But if Apple wants this tablet used for more than just entertainment, they need to get battery life way, way up.

Done right, this could be a _killer_ device for use by nurses and techs in a hospital (or similar environments).

Of course there are uses that require a long battery life.
For consumers I can see a 4-5hr life acceptable.

2 types of screens could be offered a very dynamic screen with short battery life and the other less demanding screen but with at least 50% more battery life.

I suggest you read the Pixel QI mission statement at:

http://www.pixelqi.com/mission

It includes the following:

The display is the most expensive component in a modern laptop, and the most power hungry, and it's uncomfortable to read when compared with paper. We aim to fix this – our team already took the first step with the OLPC screen. The battery is the second most expensive component in the laptop or portable. We propose to massively lower the power consumption of the screen and thus also slash the cost of the battery and dramatically boost how long your machine can run on it before you have re-charge it.

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[DanielApple]

I don't think so!

I can not see why Apple would use a screen like this.

Apple has just moved in to OLED technology for their iMacs and are sure to spread this across to the rest of their range with iPhones and iPod Touches expected to receive them next year. OLED screens are absolutely beautiful with amazing capabilities.

Why would Apple have all these brilliant screens on their whole range, including their present LCDs like the one on the iPhone and iPod Touch, yet have a tablet that has a Terrible screen like this one. Not to mention this is a start-up company and has no prior experience. These LCDs may have a life of 1 year average for all anyone knows!

I am just saying that Apple designs and realises Technology that is above and beyond and their plans for this tablet must be phenomenal. So why ruin it with a screen like this!

Thats just my reasoning I guess!