Patent Shows Amazon's Design for Two-Sided Tablet

[exfileme]

Amazon was awarded a patent for a tablet sporting a screen on both sides.

Patent Shows Amazon's Design for Two-Sided Tablet : Read more

 

[zoenphlux]

Its like a Paradox. No mater how or where you lay it, a screen is at risk.

 

[zoenphlux]

This just seems like a Customer Service nightmare. TWICE the chances to break it. TWICE as much time cleaning the screens. TWICE the chances to be letdown by android. lol jk on the last part.

 

[NuclearShadow]

It is just a bad idea with little practical use and no doubt going to cause a much higher price tag. Because of this it will also need a locking system that cannot be accidentally done on the other side which means it will be a annoying one when you actually do want to unlock it. Tablets should he handled as gently as a baby too, and with two screens for each side... I would never feel comfortable resting it anywhere.

 

[jaquith]

Idiotic idea.

I could see a 'folding' tablet 'V' with screens on the right & left (or top & bottom), but this front & back will never see the light of day outside of a lab.

 

[waxdart]

Toggle screen button too good for them?

 

[kinggraves]

This is what happens when companies are afraid to do anything that looks anything like what could possibly be an Apple device. In b4 Android icons become triangles.

Oh, and isn't it nice how vague patents can be? "Well maybe it can do this, and possibly it will look like that..." No, exact description of the product youre covering and that alone, bad patents office, no treat for you

 

[ihavenoid4u]

if you could get twice the amount of battery time then im sure it would be successful. who doesnt buy a case for their products anyways

 

[Jarmo]

At first glance, a totally idiotic idea. On a second thought... I might want one.
E-ink is a lot better for reading ebooks and the battery lasts forever compared to LCD. Pricing is a concern, but what does adding an additional screen cost, when all the rest is already in place? $20? $50?
Add covers on both sides and it's a go. There's also weight and thickness to consider, but how much extra is that anyway?

 

[shafe88]

[citation][nom]NuclearShadow[/nom]It is just a bad idea with little practical use.[/citation] Well if it comes with at stand to set it straight up in landscape mode at least it's good for electronic battleship.

 

[elcentral]

the only cool use i can find in the concept is to get a holder with build in mirror to double the device screen without eny expensive devises.

 

[beardguy]

Man you guys are hating, lol.

I agree about the two-sided screen being a magnet to break. But honestly all the device would need would be a sort of filp-cover on a hinge. You could just flip the cover over to the screen you are not using. I don't think the idea is that you would actually use both screens at once.

E-ink is f'ing awesome for reading. And while I don't mind reading on my Kindle Fire, it does wear on your eyes after awhile. A two-in-one device could be great. I mean, even better would be a switch that you can flip to switch the same screen from one to another, but I'm pretty sure this isn't even technically possible. Either way, to me this idea seems like it could be cool but it has to be executed with perfection.

 

[killerclick]

I think e-ink is overrated, at least I have no problem reading from LCD screens for 18 hours a day - or at least it's no more uncomfortable than reading from a book.

 

[CaedenV]

[citation][nom]killerclick[/nom]I think e-ink is overrated, at least I have no problem reading from LCD screens for 18 hours a day - or at least it's no more uncomfortable than reading from a book.[/citation]
e-ink is amazing for what it is designed to be used for (b&w text), offering months of battery life rather than hours or days. color e-ink and mirasol displays will make their way into the market soon, and could be a really neat option for portable devices that need color in full daylight settings, mirasol displays can even do passable 20+fps video if you need it to.
They are not for general computing, as led/oled display technology does a much better job for that. But for things that are largely text, and need to be viewed in daylight there really is very little out there to compete.

 

[acadia11]

Now this is an innovative idea. A real patent none of that non-sense that Apple is awarded that is prior art. E-Ink is much better on your eyes for reading, I have both a kindle and ipad for this very reason. Here Amazon has solved a real world problem and should have been awarded a patent for it.

 

[acadia11]

[citation][nom]waxdart[/nom]Toggle screen button too good for them?[/citation]


Uhmmm .. maybe but you do understand e-Ink and LCD are too different technologies. e-Ink is not back lit, why it's easy on the eyes and you can't use it in the dark, lcd is back lit why it's bad on the eyes but you can use it in the dark.

 

[rosen380]

I thought the LCD/E-INK hybrid was going to be layered. IE, E-INK on top with an LCD behind it. When E-INK is appropriate the LCD shuts off and vice versa.

 

[slabbo]

this is brilliant and so simple. Amazon's gonna sell a gazillion of these. It's so easy to create something to protect the side of the screen that's not in use. This could very well work!

 

[spartanmk2]

Stick to distribution, Amazon. That's only what youre good at.

 

[classzero]

[citation][nom]jaquith[/nom]Idiotic idea. I could see a 'folding' tablet 'V' with screens on the right & left (or top & bottom), but this front & back will never see the light of day outside of a lab.[/citation]
Now if it was made by samsung it would be the best thing since . . . Air.

 

[alcalde]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I love it. All of the drawbacks, none of the disadvantages. e-Ink for reading books, LCD for reading color magazines and playing media. I think it's awesome.

 

[DSpider]

I think they patented it so that anybody else that attempts something like this in the future will have to pay royalties or get sued.

 

[atippey]

Business in the front, party in the back...this can't end well.

 

[arlandi]

looks like they're covering their as**s with this patent. don't want some other company to sue them later. especially that sue-happy-fruitlogo-inc.
but if they do make this device, i guess they have to sell these with somekind of protective cover for those screens.

 

[army_ant7]

I wonder if it would really get implemented anytime soon. At first, I was thinking that two screens wouldn't be cost-efficient to make. Also that it might suck up more juice. But the idea of having both screens being touch-sensitive made me think of a possibility of a PSVita-style (touching the back while viewing the front) control for some apps. That is if one screen's touch sensors are active while viewing the other screen. Also, what developers would develop for a single or few tablets, unless it becomes as popular as the iPad, which I doubt.

Using the e-ink reader (reading books and stuff can take a while) a lot to save power compared to an LCD screen does sound reasonable though.

The ideas about having two screens to worry about mentioned by some commenters above are interesting, like having to clean two screens and having one screen placed on a surface all the time. They would probably need to use Corning Gorilla Glass to avoid scratches. I wonder though if there's a matte version of that though for the e-ink side for outdoor reading, if e-ink screens use glass at all (I'm not certain). There are matte screen protectors though I don't know if they'd be more problematic since they might get scratched up which isn't wanted in the first place.

Anyway, this potential product could satisfy some, if not a lot of people, who have/want both an e-ink reader and a normal tablet.