Japan's KDDI Presents e-Paper Photo Viewer for Mobiles

For the time being, there are only three ways in which one can view the photos taken with the help of one’s mobile phone: either directly on the display of the handheld, by downloading the digital pictures onto a computer (or perhaps a digital photo frame), or by attaching the phone straight to a TV set or a projector. However, it would seem that the future might bring yet another solution to this issue, courtesy of the Japanese company KDDI.

Thus, as Megumi Yoshizawa reports for the Japanese publication Nikkei Electronics (TechOn), it seems that KDDI, one of the most important cellular carriers from Japan, has just developed a prototype "Portable Viewer System", which allows users to view the photos taken by their mobile phones by using e-Paper technology.

The device sports a 13.1-inch color electronic paper display, which can be used for easily viewing a photo reaching almost A4 size. The device sports just a power button, with the photos being transmitted wirelessly. Unfortunately, there's no info provided on the technology used for transmitting the images to the "Portable Viewer System", but we're most likely talking about Bluetooth (or IR, though this second option is less probable).

Of course, since it's not actively involved in the development of e-Paper, KDDI had to license this technology from another company. Thus, the electronic paper display uses Brigdestone's Electronic Liquid Powder technology and renders 4,096 colors. Unfortunately, the refresh time is not particularly impressive (after all, this is only a prototype), since a complete redrawing of an image on the screen takes around 12 seconds.

The Japanese company has not provided any details regarding the availability of its "Portable Viewer System", but given just how useful this product could be, it might actually reach the market a lot sooner than expected (hopefully, not at an absolutely prohibitive price point).


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