A new Bloomberg report indicates that Sony might be preparing to produce a smartwatch that uses an e-paper display rather than a traditional LCD display. Not only will the display be made of e-paper, the report continues, but the entire wrist band as well. Could such a device take on Apple’s own smartwatch, set for release early next year?
E-paper, for those unfamiliar with the term, is the same low-power “electronic paper” display used in devices like the Kindle. It allows a display to be legible, even in direct sunlight, by reflecting light rather than emitting it like a standard LCD display.
Bloomberg says that by building the entire watch from e-paper, Sony will enable users to change the look of the device on a whim without switching out physical faces or bands, as would be required with a device like the Apple Watch—although to a much lesser degree than Apple Watch users will enjoy.
The decision to use e-paper stems from a desire to focus on style and customizability rather than functionality. Though this will put Sony’s watch in a much different category than Apple’s entry, the choice to take some of the focus off of the watch’s functionality makes sense given the technical limitations of e-paper technology.
For example, though color e-paper displays have existed for several years now, the technology is expensive—so expensive that Samsung decided to give up on it—and the existing models are unreliable and low-quality. As a result, there are currently no consumer-ready full-color panels.
E-paper displays also suffer from much lower refresh rates, making them ideal for books, but less so for high-tech tablets or other devices that need to display rapidly changing information or interfaces. For an Apple Watch, e-paper would be a poor fit. However, if Sony does plan to focus more on form than function, it may not need to worry about the problems it would face putting a full mobile OS on the watch.
One watch that has successfully navigated these obstacles to provide a solid user experience is the popular Pebble smartwatch, which has support for a variety of third-party apps and functions. The limitations on its display, however, ensure that the Pebble, like any other e-paper-based watch, will likely never achieve the same level of software design that Apple or Google’s Android Wear have reached.
The Sony project is part of a new initiative within the company to reward seed money to employees with innovative ideas and help bring their designs to market.
According to Bloomberg’s report, Sony is working toward a possible release in 2015.
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E paper could work for the Apple watch too if they weren’t trying to do so much with the thing.
Doing stuff with it is the only reason it is interesting.
Ya, only that you can only do so much with the Watch for only a few hours at a time.
Forget to charge it overnight and next day you’re back on your old analog…
Out on a short trip? Yet another charger / charging cable for you to tuck along…
This concept is beyond silly….What are the people at Sony thinking? This is simply an over glorified wristband and far from being a “watch” and narrows target market significantly.
Sure !… Criticize Sony!! ;-)
But the users of this mark have watches connected with Facebook, sport, tweeter… since 2011.
You have your first watch in 2015 with Apple.Just copied….
You’re a moron.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-JzJi12JxU
Stylish & e-paper? Um, no.
i wouldn’t be so quick to knock it. we haven’t seen a finished product just like the apple watch is not a finished product just yet.
Sony might be on a better track with e-paper, if they get it right. If they release a stylish and functional, no-gimmicks watch with good battery life, a decent set of bio-sensors, a decent set of phone-sourced notifications and make it accessible from all devices (Android / iOS / etc), they have a winner in their hands.
Retina is very marketable on anything, but on a watch it doesn’t really make sense. Battery life is MUCH more marketable.
We won’t be viewing pics or videos on the Watch. 4 inches is feeling small already…
We won’t be playing games on the Watch
We don’t really need to be exchanging heartbeats and finger-drawn smileys with people across the room or on the net. That’s an utter gimmick.
We DO need our watch to last through a second day at the VERY MINIMUM, 4-5 days preferably (a typical short trip). An Apple Watch you forgot to charge overnight is an Apple Watch you’re leaving at home the next day and picking up your old Seiko. Tim had better drill this in his head…
Tim, I’m afraid, will have to learn this the hard way.
Of all the so-called “Smart” watches released in the last few years the Pebble is still the best compromise between battery life (around 6 days) and function. The problems of a watch with only a 24 hour life between charges should be obvious to all potential users.