Well, the news of the day revolves around the recently announced improvements to the eInk technology. Honestly, it looks like good news. I know, many people are holding out for color, but this is still something to be excited about.
According to information from the recent Red Ferret interview, we’re looking at the potential for significantly higher contrast and refresh rates on eInk displays being made available by the end of the year, as well as some noticeable improvements in durability not too far off beyond that. Comments were made regarding the potential for animation now that the refresh rate has been improved so significantly, but we can probably take that as more of an example case than a real goal for the technology. Maybe for scrolling effects? I can certainly see those being a major boon for eInk based web browsers, if nothing else.
Anyway, good news for the future of eReaders in the face of the increasing competition from the tablet market. It comes at an especially good time, we can hope, with the prevailing opinion being that the next generations of both the Kindle and the nook are probably coming in the next year or so.