E Ink Holdings (元太科技), the world’s largest e-paper display supplier, yesterday said its latest 1.73-inch e-paper flexible display has been used in a commercial smartwatch, jointly developed by its subsidiary Transmart Co Ltd (川元電子) and Taipei-based Sonostar Inc (南北星).
The smartwatch is being showcased at the Computex trade show in Taipei by Sonostar and is set to hit the market in the near future, E Ink said in a statement.
Equipped with a 1.73-inch flexible e-paper touch screen that supports 320 x 240 pixel resolution with 16 grayscale levels, the smartwatch has a 180 degree-wide viewing angle, a feature unavailable on tablets and smartphones.
Photo: MANDY CHENG, AFP
“E Ink is extremely pleased that Sonostar has chosen to use E Ink’s ePaper displays in such a cutting edge product,” E Ink marketing director Giovanni Mancini said.
Sonostar, which has developed a series of golf applications for Android and iOS mobile operating systems, said the smartwatch can receive e-mails, text messages and telephone calls via Bluetooth technology from users’ smartphones or “phablets” running either the Android or iOS mobile operating system.
“Sonostar is now moving to the emerging field of smartwatches and wearable computing,” said Joesam Liu (劉俊山), chief executive officer of Sonostar’s smartwatch division.
“The smartwatch’s touch screen interface is much more intuitive than pressing buttons,” Liu said.
The smartwatch is available in black and white, and carries a price tag of US$179, the company said.
Next quarter, the company is set to ship the first batch to markets including Taiwan and the US, Sonostar said, adding that it is scheduled to launch new versions of the smartwatch in different colors in August to enhance user experience.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
AI-FUELED DEMAND: The company has been benefiting from the skyrocketing prices for DRAM chips amid the AI frenzy, especially its core product — DDR4 DRAM chips DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday reported that its revenue for the first quarter surged 582.91 percent to NT$49.09 billion (US$1.54 billion) from NT$7.19 billion a year earlier, as the supply crunch caused chip price spikes. Last quarter’s figure is the highest on record. On a quarterly basis, revenue jumped 63.14 percent from NT$30.09 billion, the company said. In January, Nanya Technology expected global DRAM supply scarcity to continue through the first half of 2028, thanks to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) forecast prices of standard DRAM chips would rise between 58 percent and 63
HIGHER PRICES: Given rising energy costs, CPC raised natural gas prices for generators by 41.58%, which Taipower said would raise its power generation costs by NT$10 billion State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) has activated its fourth naphtha cracker to boost ethylene supply, aiming to ease concerns over plastic material shortages amid tensions in the Middle East, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. The move is expected to add 19,000 tonnes of supply this month and 30,000 tonnes next month, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Chin-tsang (何晉滄) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. CPC on Tuesday held talks with major polyethylene producers, including Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), Asia Polymer Corp (亞聚) and USI Corp (台聚), and pledged to supply ethylene feedstock
RSS