re: Xerox, 3M Agree To Manufacture Electronic Paper
I was just telling my pal Don that the following was going to happen, unbelievable it is happening sooner then I thought..
Xerox, 3M Agree To Manufacture Electronic Paper
Get Quote, Company Info: XRX, MMM
Reuters
SAN FRANCISCO (June 29) - Xerox Corp. will announce Tuesday that it has signed a manufacturing agreement with 3M in a move to turn one of its research projects -- electronic paper -- into a commercial product.
Electronic paper is a new kind of reusable electronic display, like a computer screen but more portable and convenient. A bit thicker than ordinary paper but almost as flexible, it has been in development at Xerox's fabled Palo Alto Research Center for about four years.
Electronic paper's display capabilities make it suitable for such applications as electronic newspapers that could add late-breaking news even as they were being read.
But do not expect to see it any time soon.
''Currently we are working on manufacturing and volume,'' said Bob Sprague, manager of Xerox PARC's Document Hardware Lab. ''It won't be on the market in the next year.'' Sprague said Xerox might sign many different deals with hardware companies and content developers but had nothing else to announce for now.
Electronic paper is built on a display technology called ''gyricon'' developed at Xerox PARC over a decade ago. Small beads, resembling toner particles but a bit larger, are enmeshed in a flexible binder sheet, where they are uniformly distributed. The beads rotate to present one side to the viewer when a pattern of electrical voltage is applied to the surface. The image remains until a new pattern is applied.
Sprague said electronic paper could be used in a few different ways, including pulling a wand or a stylus across the page or putting it through a computer printer.
Reut00:38 06-29-99 |
