color

Could an Amazon tablet reach consumers later this year?

Sources quoted by tech site DigiTimes claim that Taiwan-based Quanta Computer has already gotten orders from Amazon to build the retail giant's first tablet PC. The new tablet will apparently use E Ink's Fringe Field Switching LCD technology, suggesting it will be a color LCD touch panel (a departure from the black-and-white E-ink Kindles we've seen to date)."

The tablet will start shipping as soon as the second half of the year with monthly orders expected to hit 700,000 to 800,000 units during the peak … Read more

Sri Peruvemba, vice president of global sales and marketing at E Ink, recently stopped by our New York offices and talked displays and reminded us just how thin the e-ink screen for the Kindle and other e-readers is.

While he was showing off a "Triton" color e-ink prototype that's been making the rounds and piqued the interest of textbook publishers, we were more interested in what's up next for monochrome e-ink. Peruvemba couldn't speak about any new e-readers from Amazon or Barnes & Noble, but he did say that the company's latest and greatest e-ink display, which goes by the name Pearl and was released last year (it's in the Kindle and Sony Readers but not the Nook), would be it for now; we shouldn't expect anything new in 2011.

"We're generally on a two-year cycle with our e-ink technology," he said. "It takes some time to develop and test the next generation." … Read more

The other day I noticed that one of our tech editors here, Joe Kaminski, had a light blue Smart Cover on his iPad 2. Now Joe prides himself on being kind of a macho guy--some of you might know him from the Digital City podcast--so a little ribbing was in order.

I said, "Dude, why does a guy like you have baby-blue iPad cover?"

"I know, I know," he said. "It's kind of lame, but it's the best color they had in the cheaper version. What, I'm gonna get that DayGlo … Read more

Nielsen thinks that Android phones are finally more desirable than iPhones, but Antuan could have told you that based on less than scientific observations. Justin shows us a phone that he does not desire, the HTC Droid Incredible 2. The unlikely Barnes & Noble Nook Color is rapidly becoming the most desirable Android tablet thanks to a new firmware update. Meanwhile, Motorola plans to give hardcore users what they truly desire, quad-core processors and more hacker friendly Android phones. All of that plus more news and the answers to your emailed questions on this week's episode of Android Atlas … Read more

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Sony admits to a major security breach in the PlayStation Network

YouTube may be poised to take on Netflix in the movie rental business

The Nexus S 4G will launch on Sprint on May 8

The updated Nook Color will let authors sign your digital books

Facebook is unveiling, Youtube's going Hollywood, Nook Colors are Flashing, Netflix is growing, the White iPhone is coming, and Location Gate continues with Microsoft joining in the mix. All this while the USA tries to catch up with its superslow download speeds. I'd like a Tech Wrap Supreme please to help me digest all of this.

Lovers of literature know that having a book signed by a favorite author is something truly special. How do you sign an e-book though? Hopefully not with ballpoint.

Barnes & Noble is set to debut a new feature for the Android-equipped Nook Color e-reader that lets authors digitally sign their e-books using a stylus.

Writer and illustrator Sandra Boynton will be one of the first authors to host an e-book signing, and it's scheduled for Barnes & Noble's Upper East Side store in New York City (7 p.m. on Monday, May 2). The event will promote the … Read more

On today's show, the iPhone is apparently storing your location data even when you've turned off the location tracking services. And law enforcement agencies and a cottage industry of iOS forensics companies have been taking advantage of these logs for years. Nevertheless, Steve Jobs appears to insist in an email to a customer that Apple is not tracking anyone. Really. Hunch shows you why you love both hummus and Macs, even if you don't love Apple. Plus, Sony is rebuilding its PlayStation Network security after its now five-day outage, and an innocent man is accused of child pornography because it's still just too damn hard to put a password on a WiFi network. --Molly

A month ago we reported that Barnes & Noble was set to roll out a major software update for the Nook Color in April. This morning, Barnes & Noble finally flipped the switch on that update, which is a customized version of Android OS 2.2 (Froyo) and most notably adds a free built-in e-mail client, Flash support for Web browsing, and an app store with a selection of more than 125 free and paid apps.

Those who've already "rooted" the $250 Nook Color with custom firmware that's been circulating on the Web for months will … Read more