Qualcomm’s mirasol display technology has had quite a rough time gaining mass appeal, but if it could really break into, say, the GPS market, it might just be onto something. Here at CES, G-CORE will be showcasing the first ever GPS device to utilize the tech, though it’s probably not the GPS you’re dreaming of. The Mini Caddy is simply a GPS Range Finder, though the application makes sense given just how frequently such a device will be viewed in direct sunlight. Within it will be a 1.2-inch bichrome mirasol display, 1GB of internal memory and map data of up to 25,000 golf courses worldwide. Obviously, no pricing or release information has been decided upon, but you catch the release in full after the break.

Filed under: CES, Displays, GPS

Qualcomm’s mirasol display tech shuffles into GPS prototype originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Displays, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Well, wouldn’t you know it? Just after we bash Qualcomm for talking up its second color mirasol-based design before shipping the first, along comes a little justification of our actions. Over in San Francisco, said company is trumpeting an item that we first heard about back in May, but regrettably, it doesn’t sound as if we’re any closer to getting a release date. What we are told is the device’s name: the Freestyle Audio Soundwave Ltd. Edition, or — more formally — the FA300. It’ll boast a 0.9-inch color mirasol display, a waterproof casing, built-in Bluetooth, and a whole host of other niceties that we’re sure to find out about before the next decade dawns. ‘Til then, we’d suggest a hearty helping of patience.

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Filed under: Displays, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Remember that Freestyle Audio player that was supposed to blow folks away with its integrated color mirasol display? Yeah, that one that still hasn’t shipped? Qualcomm is apparently uninterested in that tiny little factoid, as it’s proudly pumping the MFM Pro headphones as the “second color mirasol-enabled design for the US market.” According to Jim Cathey, vice president of business development for Qualcomm MEMS Technologies, the deal with Skullcandy is being made to “move mirasol displays into the hands of more consumers,” but considering just how long we’ve been waiting for the aforementioned DAP, we’d say the burden of proof is squarely in its court. Oh, and the ship date for these cans? There isn’t one.

[Via Slashgear]

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Filed under: Displays

You’ve got your LCDs, you’ve got your OLEDs, and you’ve got your E Ink, but Qualcomm’s gearing up to push a new kind of display your way: the technology’s called reflective interferometric modulation (IMOD), which is something of a mouthful, so Qualcomm intends to market it as Mirasol. These IMOD displays should have many of the same qualities we’ve come to know and love about OLED, like low power consumption, visibility in outdoor lighting, and no backlighting requirement, and apparently the first, very tiny 0.9-inch Mirasol screen will be showing up in a future Freestyle Audio player (technology sample shown above).

Read - Press release
Read - Mirasol site (not a lot there, unfortunately)

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