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Report: Qualcomm plans $2 billion Mirasol plant

According to Digitimes, the company is gearing up for a new facility to crank out its color, video-playing e-reader screens.

Ina Fried Former Staff writer, CNET News
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley.
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Qualcomm's Mirasol uses microelectronic machines that are based in part on the motion of a butterfly's wings to create an e-reader display that can display both color and video. Qualcomm

Qualcomm is said to be putting more muscle behind its planned Mirasol color e-reader technology.

According to Taiwan's Digitimes, the company is ready to spend up to $2 billion on a Taiwan plant to produce the screens, which use tiny microelectronic machines to produce an e-reader screen that not only can display color, but video as well.

Qualcomm, which has been showing Mirasol for some time, won't produce the actual e-reader devices, hoping instead to license its technology broadly. A representative told CNET in June that e-readers using Mirasol should be out early next year, if not by the end of this year.

Here's a demo of the technology I got at this year's D: All Things Digital conference.