Esquire Magazine’s Electronic Ink Digital Cover

To commemorate Esquire’s 75th Anniversary, they have published a cover that will go down in history, an electronic ink (or e-ink) cover that features digital moving words and flashing images. Beaming the words “The 21st Century Begins NOW” the magazine cover bridges the gap between digital media and print media, and the buzz is all about the technology underneath the cover.

Think it was a pricey move?  The e-ink cover reportedly only cost Esquire an additional $2.00 per magazine to produce. The pr-marketing effect? Priceless.

Let’s take a look at the tech behind the digital media animation: a programming header, 5-pin ISP, a Microchip PIC 12f629 which is flash programmable, 8 pin, 6 lithium coin cell CR2016s, 3 volts each, and 2 e-ink screens. The Cover is available in most large cities today but has not reached many smaller towns yet.

Here is a sneak peek at hacking the cover, to see what is going on… is it REALLY electronic ink? No, it’s actually an extremely thin and flexible screen:

Open the front cover and you’ll find an animated digital ad on the inside as well:

Esquire has released a short video of the animation, along with a nice bit of tutorial for Hackers interested in reprogramming the digital screen for their own amusements, and how to recycle the cover at Esquire:

Visit Mashable for another great article, photos and more information on Esquire’s digital ink cover.