Liquavista's E-Paper Plays Full-Color Movies

E-readers such as Amazon's Kindle DX, Sony's Daily Edition,
and Barnes & Noble's multi-touch hybrid might want to start
trembling. A new e-paper from Liquivista promises to allow
video-playing and digital note-taking on a multi-touch, color
screen.

Liquivista's secret is an electrowetting display. The
electrowetting technology uses an oil and water layer along
with a hydrophobic surface, and applies light voltage to
change the "wetting" properties of the surface. This helps
create a light switch twice as efficient as LCDs.

The company licensed the electrowetting technology from
Philips, and hopes to roll out three products soon.

It retains the high contrast of e-ink, but it uses
significantly more power, a limitation that likely makes it
more suited for use in a phone with 24-hour battery life than
a Kindle you charge once a month.