If only the Amazon Kindle had a color screen. That could be closer than we thought, if tiremaker (?) Bridgestone has anything to do with it. We've seen attempts at slow-refreshing color e-paper screens before, but this one is the best yet. This 13-inch experimental color e-paper screen accepts pen input, and has a quick screen refresh rate of 0.8 seconds. Now we're getting somewhere.

There's still a long way to go, though. This passive matrix panel still looks dim and lacks contrast, and Bridgestone isn't saying anything about battery life, either. Even so, considering the fact that this screen's primitive predecessor took as long as 15 seconds to refresh, this represents significant progress.

So maybe that wish for a color Kindle isn't a pipe dream after all. It's only a matter of time. Take a look at a video of the device in action:

Tech-On, via Engadget