Will E-Ink Go the Way of Plasma? iPad Bets Yes

There's news from PVI, the makers of the Kindle's e-ink screen, that they've got new versions coming this year that'll update fast enough for "animation," have touchscreens and color. Such screen tech would go a long way towards enabling Amazon to produce the much-improved Kindle 3. The question is, is it too little to late?

The iPad has an LCD screen, LED-backlit for power efficiency, and while it doesn't deliver the same sort of easy-on-the-eye viewing skills that e-ink's electrophoretic technology does, what it will enable is the iPad to become a fully multimedia (books, music, video, Web) device that makes a Kindle's tech look seriously outdated. Amazon's already trying to combat Apple's advances with the strangely-conceived Kindle app idea, and it's clear that PVI is trying to indicate that when the Kindle 3 arrives (sometime in 2010?) it'll have a improved screen tech that'll go some way toward competing with the iPad's offerings.