Display screen technology developer Mary Lou Jepsen is working at her new start-up to create laptop PCs so energy efficient they'll be able to run on a standard laptop battery for 20 to 40 hours before needing a recharge. Jepsen, formerly the head of Intel's display division and chief technology officer at One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), plans to start shipping ultra-low power screens for laptops and e-books in the second half of next year that people can read in direct sunlight and have a fully saturated HDTV-quality color mode. Low-power screens that can be read in bright sunlight are one of the key features on OLPC's XO laptop. The screens cost a third that of traditional LCD screens and use about a tenth of the power.

Pixel Qi plans to develop entire laptop and PC designs around its new screen technology to create the most power efficient models possible. One particular product in development at Pixel Qi is a new e-paper that is paper-white and offers both color and video. The screens draw just a small percentage of the power of a standard LCD screen and allow companies to make new kinds of laptop PCs with batteries that can last longer. Pixel Qi will be announcing products in the near future. Jepsen expects to have new laptop and e-book screens shipping in the second half of next year.