Remember Modos, the start-up that set out to develop the world’s first laptop with an E Ink display? An ambitious endeavor, indeed, and one that immediately garnered attention from tech journalists and enthusiasts worldwide. However, after being inactive—on its blog, at least—for more than a year, the team is now back with an update: it has secured a grant from the NLnet Foundation
Apart from that, the company also announced the completion of a survey, which they claim has given them some vital insights into what prospective buyers actually want. They have promised to elaborate on the findings of the survey in a future blog post and share details about what they have been up to so far.
Meanwhile, Modos also elaborated in a blog post how they wish to proceed with the grant they have received. That includes creating the chassis for the E-Ink monitor, producing engineering samples, and conducting comprehensive tests. The FreeCAD files associated with the chassis will be released to the community for accessibility and use. They will also be working on existing issues on the initial prototype board, and make preparations for the production of a revised version, including manufacturing a new set of prototype boards.
Apart from this, they also hope to incorporate diverse functionalities, including the negotiation of USB-C alt mode, establishing communication between MCU and FPGA, integrating error diffusion dithering, waveform lookup, framebuffer operation, USB communication protocol between MCU and PC, and providing an initial example of user-space utility.
Then there will also be efforts to create a project summary, outlining executed and upcoming features, along with the rationale behind them. Present an in-depth explanation of the E-Ink driving mechanism, FPGA gateware architecture, MCU firmware architecture, and provide a guide for contributors to join the project.
All of this is exciting, especially considering that many had begun to write off the company due to its prolonged absence. Now that they’re back, we eagerly anticipate more frequent updates in the future.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
