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Hitachi W61H Mobile Phone Packs E-Ink Display on its Bum
Posted by Haroon Malik at 9:26 PM on January 29, 2008
Hitachi has just debuted its W61H mobile phone, which packs a 2.7-Inch E-Ink display on its reverse side. The display, which has been dubbed the Silhouette Screen, will be able to show off one of 95 pre-set graphics, but beyond the aesthetics the E-Ink offering has, it seems to have little other utility. (No caller data, time, date or SMS information can be viewed.) Jump for another shot.
The W61H will have a 2.8-inch internal WQVGA display (240 x 400), 1.97MP camera and an onboard 2GB micro SD (non-expandable.) The E-Ink phone goodness will last 250 minutes of call time on a single charge, and will most likely never get the chance to live the Australian dream (it's a Japan only release). [AVING]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
CarbonatedWater
Posted 11:17 PM 29/1/08
Well that kinda defeats the purpose of having that screen on the back.
CarbonatedWater
myotheralt
Posted 11:17 PM 29/1/08
Non expandable meaning non removable?
myotheralt
strider_mt2k
Posted 12:16 AM 30/1/08
What an incredible waste of time and energy!
What were they thinkin'?
strider_mt2k
zarchitect
Posted 12:16 AM 30/1/08
great, the battery will die 10x faster for stupid graphics you could have sharpied on there yourself. pure genuis!
zarchitect
BoinK
Posted 1:16 AM 30/1/08
@zarchitect: Sounds like you need to read up on the tech a bit: [en.wikipedia.org]
But I agree that it is useless in this application.
BoinK
daveNYC
Posted 3:18 AM 30/1/08
Naw, it's useless. They've already got 'outside' displays on phones that display useful information. This just uses a different technology and gets rid of the useful information. Costs more, does less, but look! It's got e-ink!
daveNYC
jamar0303
Posted 3:18 AM 30/1/08
Hitachi really needs to start releasing phones in America. The American CDMA (how is this relevant? this is a CDMA phone) carrier lineups are all so dismal.
jamar0303
zenpoet
Posted 3:18 AM 30/1/08
@BoinK: I don't really find it useless, as many great techs spring from otherwise useless loins. So the water is tested with purely aesthetic purposes; but at least it is being used, and hopefully improved upon for later iterations.
Many great car technologies come from the racing circuit, and I cannot think of anything more useless than racecars.
zenpoet
zenpoet
Posted 5:17 AM 30/1/08
@BoinK: I was agreeing with you there, slappy. I don't think the usage of e-ink on a phone is useless, just this particular application. What I was saying is that I hope its use here inspires a better use in a later product.
zenpoet
MagnoliaBoy
Posted 5:17 AM 30/1/08
I think it's pretty sexy for a kinda-non-smart phone. I don't see why we get pre-selected graphics though. Makes me think the display is more of a B&W LCD than true E-Ink.
MagnoliaBoy
BoinK
Posted 5:17 AM 30/1/08
@zenpoet: I don't think using an e-ink display on a phone is useless. More what they're using it for right now, displaying patterns without any meaning. If they actually made it display something of value such as remaining battery, a calendar or something in that category I'd be all for it.
BoinK
kevjohn
Posted 5:17 AM 30/1/08
Can't you hack this so it'll display... oh I don't know, a picture of a naked babe or something?
kevjohn
CarbonatedWater
Posted 7:21 AM 30/1/08
@strider_mt2k: Who said anything about thinking?
CarbonatedWater
DigitalTrix
Posted 3:17 PM 30/1/08
@kevjohn: my thoughts exactly...hitachi may retail it like that, just leave it to the homebrewing/modding community to find a way to execute a full-on reader java program (sorta like bookr) that interacts with the display to read text..and yes, display monochromatic close-ups of boobies
DigitalTrix
deusdiabolus
Posted 6:16 PM 30/1/08
Amusing thing: The word "WIN" embossed on the e-ink side. Uh...no.
deusdiabolus
Jesse in Japan
Posted 8:16 PM 30/1/08
@deusdiabolus: All au phones in the WIN line have the word WIN embossed on the front.
Jesse in Japan
jamar0303
Posted 3:17 AM 31/1/08
@deusdiabolus: WIN is the Japanese name for EvDO (like how Verizon calls theirs BroadbandAccess or something equally silly).
jamar0303