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PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

popslate.com

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Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#51
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

e-paper, or electronic paper, is a generic term for any kind of display that doesn't work by emitting light, which the pebble, the popSLATE, and ereaders like the nook or kindle do. What you are describing is e-Ink, which is a specific implementation of a non-light-emitting screen generally used in ereaders. That being said, it does seem that popSLATE is using a screen like what is used in an ereader, and not like wh…

The thing is, pre Pebble, everyone understood that both terms meant something that didn't use power once an image was displayed. The Pebble is the first product I was aware of that abused the term. Everyone I spoke to thought it was the same clear display used in an ereader when it's actually just similar tech to my retired Palm III.

I don't really think it abuses the term, since it doesn't require a backlight to display things, it is technically correct to call it e-paper. I also remember the people at Pebble discussing the differences between e-Ink and e-paper when it first came out. It's not like they hid how the Pebble's display worked.

Besides, an e-Ink screen would be a horrible experience given how the display gets used in the Pebble watch.

Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#52
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, pre Pebble, everyone understood that both terms meant something that didn't use power once an image was displayed. The Pebble is the first product I was aware of that abused the term. Everyone I spoke to thought it was the same clear display used in an ereader when it's actually just similar tech to my retired Palm III.

I don't really think it abuses the term, since it doesn't require a backlight to display things, it is technically correct to call it e-paper. I also remember the people at Pebble discussing the differences between e-Ink and e-paper when it first came out. It's not like they hid how the Pebble's display worked. Besides, an e-Ink screen would be a horrible experience given how the display gets used in the Pebble watch…

It always seemed purposely misleading to me. Heck they don't even use the term LCD in the technical specifications... which is odd because that's what it actually is. And it did work as I had multiple friends, including several technically minded ones, who were misled by Pebble's terminology and thought it was an ereader-quality display.

Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bigger market with Android devices? Very few Android phones will get even close to what any of the iPhone models sold. And docks for iphones are a lot more interesting, because there is an established standard for controlling iOS devices externally, which works with music and many many iOS apps. Not to mention, that for both 30-pin and Lightning connectors the device playing the music is the iphone, not the dock. Wit…

This is not true, most modern Android devices support USB audio class as "very strictly recommended" in Android Compatibility Definition Document and everything supports USB HID devices. Just implement USB sound card and USB keyboard to play music and control it.

In that case - fair enough. But we are yet to see a single dock which would support this.

Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#55
post #27
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't you just put both on the charger every night then?

In the case of a watch, it's hassle. You have to take it off and put it on every night. I know some people do this with watches anyway but I don't In terms of this product, it would be easier to charge it, but there is still the mental block around charging something which still has 90% battery. That seems wasteful to me

I got a Pebble a few weeks ago. I use it for sleep tracking as well as daily wear, so charging at night isn't an option. I've gotten into the habit of charging it every morning while I shower and shave. Even when I'm extra-quick with my morning routine, I still find that the 15-20 minutes is enough to bring it back to 100%.

From everything I've read, lithium batteries actually do better when they're not discharged all the way—the only downside being that the device's battery gauge can lose calibration over time (hence the recommendation to do a deep discharge every 30-50 cycles or so).

This habit also will extend the useful life of the watch for me: Since I'm already in the habit of topping off daily, when the battery begins to lose capacity (down to 3 days from the initial 7, for instance), I won't even notice.

Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#56
post #48

I want a proper E-Inc smartphone, damn it! With no OLED screen. The number of times I used my cellphone to watch videos: 0, as far as I remember. Number of times I wished my phone had longer battery life and didn't auto-dim after 30 seconds: well, every single time I use it for more than 30 seconds. Yeah, yeah, I know that you need fast screen for shooting videos. Whatever. I would settle for a phone with no camera a…

The problem is, that would be a vastly different interface from what app developers (and web developers) are expecting. You might as well get a dumb-phone, since the vast majority of apps will work poorly (if at all).

Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#57
post #33

(silly) Price aside, why is it only for iPhones? Surely the bigger market is Android devices... or both... I see a similar trend with docking station/speakers. I've yet to find a model that has a dock for micro usb. All of them are iPhone centric with an optional cable to the headphone jack of other phones.

The android market is fragmented in many different manufacturers. I'm pretty sure that none of those individual manufacturers comes close to the market share the iPhone has.

Samsung does. If it has not surpassed it at certain periods in time, it's not far behind. Either way - its a huge market. There is no technical problem creating docks for Android devices / micro usb. But for some reason there aren't any I've seen.

Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#58
post #48

I want a proper E-Inc smartphone, damn it! With no OLED screen. The number of times I used my cellphone to watch videos: 0, as far as I remember. Number of times I wished my phone had longer battery life and didn't auto-dim after 30 seconds: well, every single time I use it for more than 30 seconds. Yeah, yeah, I know that you need fast screen for shooting videos. Whatever. I would settle for a phone with no camera a…

I know what you mean. I feel the same way about not just the display but about phone having physical keys or qwerty keyboards ...I mean, the old casio and palms had it right for useful phones to get shit done as the primary function and taking funny cat pics/videos or playing games as secondary. Ah well, I guess I am just old.

BTW, as far as E-ink displays are concerned, do you know about the yotaphone ? http://yotaphone.com/in-en/ ? The yotaphone2 is scheduled to be released sooish; I plan on getting one.

Re: PopSlate, an E ink case for your iPhone

#59
post #48

I want a proper E-Inc smartphone, damn it! With no OLED screen. The number of times I used my cellphone to watch videos: 0, as far as I remember. Number of times I wished my phone had longer battery life and didn't auto-dim after 30 seconds: well, every single time I use it for more than 30 seconds. Yeah, yeah, I know that you need fast screen for shooting videos. Whatever. I would settle for a phone with no camera a…

YotaPhone 2 is able to fully function using only its eink screen, it will mirror android interface with some customizations considering eink refresh rate and color (but the phone still has OLED screen at the front). The phone already available in Russia and some European countries
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