$99 Android e-ink e-reader platform enabled by Freescale i.MX51e and i.MX508

Skip to 4:00 for info on the i.MX51e Android e-ink UI development kit and for some infos on the i.MX508 platform.

Freescale is the leader in powering the e-ink based e-readers. In 2008 that market was below 1 Million units, in 2009 it was 4-5 million units and in 2010 it is expected to sell perhaps as much as 15 million units.

Freescale's next generation of processors for e-readers integrates the e-ink controller directly into the ARM Cortex A8 based processor, which increases performance, lowers power consumption and lowers cost even further.

It is expected that this lowering of cost and complexity in the e-ink e-readers may help reach $99 e-ink e-readers sooner, which may also mean content providers like Amazon, Google or Newspapers may soon decide to give away the connected e-ink readers in exchange for a content subscription plan.

I am a big fan of the e-reader market, it helps people read again, as TV and the Internet has taken over more and more of people's time, the e-readers makes it possible to read any book, any article and any time with a quality up close near to paper quality.

I filmed an early Android e-ink prototype at CeBIT that was showcased by Gigabyte: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv71yXCLj74 now Freescale is pushing further the use of Android as the software stack for e-ink e-readers with the i.MX51e development board demonstrated in this video. This could mean awesome use of feed readers, where articles, blog posts could also be beamed from the Chrome browser extension directly to your Android based e-reader. The feature of adding text contents from your laptop to your e-reader could become really really powerful.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• e-ink
• e-reader
• freescale
• imx508
• ereader
• eink

[Charbax]

@marshmallowhailstorm Yes, I believe all of B&N Touch, Kobo Touch, Sony PRS-T1 and even Kindle Touch, those are all Android based, and most of them are using the i.MX508 by now I think. Though, usually Android is only the base of the system, they put a proprietary layer on top and they don't seem to let people mess around too much with installing Android apps yet and stuff like that, but I think you can find info online about rooting most of those if you want.

[marshmallowhailstorm]

I'm looking for an android ereader are there any out in the wild yet?