{"id":5881,"date":"2026-01-18T18:43:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T04:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/?p=5881"},"modified":"2026-01-18T18:43:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T04:43:36","slug":"mobileviews-594-color-e-ink-tablets-deep-dive-with-frank-mcpherson-sven-johannsen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/18\/mobileviews-594-color-e-ink-tablets-deep-dive-with-frank-mcpherson-sven-johannsen\/","title":{"rendered":"MobileViews 594: Color e-ink tablets deep dive with Frank McPherson &#038; Sven Johannsen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; min-width: min(100%, 430px); height: 150px;\" title=\"MobileViews 594: Color e-ink tablets deep dive with Frank McPherson &amp; Sven Johannsen\" src=\"https:\/\/www.podbean.com\/player-v2\/?i=exfts-1a20f4b-pb&amp;from=pb6admin&amp;share=1&amp;download=1&amp;rtl=0&amp;fonts=Arial&amp;skin=1&amp;font-color=auto&amp;logo_link=episode_page&amp;btn-skin=7\" width=\"100%\" height=\"150\" scrolling=\"no\" data-name=\"pb-iframe-player\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-5882\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MViews-594-infographic-1024x572.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"572\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MViews-594-infographic-1024x572.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MViews-594-infographic-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MViews-594-infographic-768x429.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MViews-594-infographic-1536x857.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MViews-594-infographic-2048x1143.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I sat down for <\/span><b>MobileViews Podcast 594<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with my longtime friends <\/span><b>Sven Johannsen<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>Frank McPherson<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Our usual co-host, <\/span><b>Jon Westfall<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, was away, but we had plenty to cover, ranging from the bite-sized future of entertainment to a massive deep dive into the world of color E-ink tablets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Note: I prompted Google Nano Banana Pro to convert a screenshot of our Google Meet video call and approximate what the photos of us would look like on a color e-ink tablet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We kicked things off by discussing a fascinating trend in East Asia: <\/span><b>micro dramas<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Specifically, a TikTok subsidiary called <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/tech.yahoo.com\/streaming\/articles\/tiktok-quietly-launches-micro-drama-211111354.html?guccounter=1\"><b>Pine Drama<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is producing miniseries with episodes lasting only 30 to 90 seconds. These &#8220;video comic strips&#8221; are designed to be highly addictive, and while I have a short attention span, I\u2019m curious to see if this ultra-short format translates well to global audiences.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On a more serious note, we touched on a security vulnerability called <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/you-need-to-check-your-wireless-headphones-for-updates-right-now-2000710714\"><b>Whisper Pair<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This bug affects several major Bluetooth headset brands\u2014including <\/span><b>Sony, Google, JBL, and Jabra<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014allowing for potential location tracking if an attacker is within 14 meters. If you use earbuds from these brands, I recommend checking the <a href=\"https:\/\/whisperpair.eu\/vulnerable-devices\">specific lists online<\/a> to see if your hardware is vulnerable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve been testing <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.google\/innovation-and-ai\/products\/gemini-app\/personal-intelligence\/\"><b>Google Gemini\u2019s personal intelligence<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> features lately, which are surprisingly good at &#8220;buttering you up&#8221; by knowing your interests in Star Trek or Star Wars. This led to a broader discussion about the <\/span><b>AI Divide<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. With subscriptions like <\/span><b>Gemini Pro<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><b>Copilot Pro<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> costing around <\/span><b>$20 a month<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, we are quickly moving toward a society of &#8220;haves and have-nots&#8221; regarding high-level tech tools. We also noted how this digital divide manifests in the real world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The heart of our conversation was a deep dive into <\/span><b>color E-ink tablets<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, led by Frank, who has become a true connoisseur of the medium. We compared several major players in the market:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Frank emphasized that for him, <\/span><b>writing is about memory and engagement<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> during meetings. While an iPad has more utility, E-ink offers <\/span><b>reflective technology<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that is easier on the eyes and provides a battery life that lasts for days rather than hours.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After hearing Frank&#8217;s breakdown, I\u2019m strongly leaning toward the <\/span><b>Boox Note Air 5C<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It\u2019s available on Amazon for about <\/span><b>$530<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and includes a stylus that uses <\/span><b>Wacom EMR technology<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, meaning I won&#8217;t even need to charge the pen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-5884\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MViews-594-e-ink-ai-1-1024x590.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"590\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MViews-594-e-ink-ai-1-1024x590.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MViews-594-e-ink-ai-1-300x173.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MViews-594-e-ink-ai-1-768x443.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MViews-594-e-ink-ai-1-1536x885.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MViews-594-e-ink-ai-1-2048x1181.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Available via <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/mobileviews.com-podcast\/id301171904?mt=2\">Apple iTunes<\/a>.<br \/>\n<a href=\"\u201chttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@ToddOgasawara\/podcasts\u201d\">MobileViews YouTube Podcasts channel <\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"\u201chttps:\/\/www.audible.com\/pd\/MobileViewscom-Podcast-Podcast\/B08K565TQS?qid=1640555789&amp;sr=1-1&amp;ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&amp;pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&amp;pf_rd_r=TXEJVWB2VW471GJ9XQQ0\u201d&lt;\/a\">MobileViews Podcast on Audible.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I sat down for MobileViews Podcast 594 with my longtime friends Sven Johannsen and Frank McPherson. Our usual co-host, Jon Westfall, was away, but we had plenty to cover, ranging from the bite-sized future of entertainment to a massive deep dive into the world of color E-ink tablets. Note: I prompted Google Nano Banana Pro [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[126],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-podcast"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/ppKRG-1wR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5881"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5885,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5881\/revisions\/5885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobileviews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}