Qualcomm: Mirasol Display Promises 10 to 100X Longer Battery Life Than iPad

At the D8 conference Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs shed some more light on his company's very promising Mirasol display technology. It boasts a full-color picture for video, web surfing, and reading electronic magazines but also the low-power benefits of eInk. How low? Jacobs said depending on the usage and where you're using a Mirasol-powered device, users will see anywhere from a 10X to 100X increase in endurance. Another benefit is that you never have to power the display down, so you'll be able to just pick up an eReader with a Mirasol display and start using it.

Jacobs says that Qualcomm is starting with eReaders with enhanced functionality (think touch and multimedia), and the prototype on display here is a 5.7-inch panel. But the company is also looking to scale Mirasol down into smart phones and even watches. The only issue I see at the moment is that Mirasol's picture quality seems relatively washed out compared to the iPad, but I suspect a lot of people will want this technology inside their next gadget because of its outdoor readability.

Mark Spoonauer
Editor-in-Chief
Responsible for the editorial vision for Laptopmag.com, Mark Spoonauer has been Editor in Chief of LAPTOP since 2003 and has covered technology for nearly 15 years. Mark speaks at key tech industry events and makes regular media appearances on CNBC, Fox and CNN. Mark was previously reviews editor at Mobile Computing, and his work has appeared in Wired, Popular Science and Inc.