Hitachi is launching a new mobile phone using e-ink technology in Japan this month. The W61H follows Motorola’s Motophone F3 and Sony’s e-book reader in the use of e-ink technology, which uses much less power than LCD displays.
E-ink displays consist of positively charged white particles and negatively charged black particles, suspended in a specialist liquid and then printed onto a ‘plastic’ film. An electronic circuit is built into the film and display drivers in the gadget use this to control the formation of the pixels seen by users.
The clamshell phone’s lid-mounted e-ink display, or “Silhouette Screen” as it is dubbed by Hitachi, measures 6.85cms.The W61H also has a more traditional main display: a 7.10 cms LCD. The handset incorporates a digital TV and is capable of picking up HD broadcasts, downscaling them to fit its main display. It also features a 1.9-megapixel camera, which can store images on Micro SD cards of up to 2GB. A voice memo function enables it to act as a Dictaphone.
European users will have to sit tight for the time been because, so far, the handset is only being unveiled for the Japanese market.