It seems the rumours of e-ink based displays’ imminent death at the hands of tablets were greatly exaggerated. Despite a glut of portable colour screen devices now on the market, ebook readers are more popular than ever, and a company called ZBD Solutions now wants to use the e-ink technology as easily updateable store signage.
The company has developed a special low-power, black and white LCD display that holds an image even when no power’s applied. So like with typical e-ink technology, it doesn’t require a constant source of current to show text and images.
The tiny signs are also all wirelessly networked together, so when an item goes on sale, someone simply needs to update a central database instead of wandering the store with a sticker gun. And because the technology is LCD-based with a fast refresh, there’s nothing stopping them from introducing eye-catching animations too. Wait, maybe that’s not a good thing. [ZBD Solutions via PSFK]