Ronald caught this in yesterday’s Shortbread, but it deserves a little extra love, even if that comes with a twinge of disappointment. It looks like Qualcomm’s promising Mirasol display technology won’t be arriving late this year as originally planned. Instead, it’ll pop up early next year, which means we could see devices on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

In development for six years, Mirasol is a reflective display type that uses Interferometric Modulation (IMOD) technology to generate images that are viewable in a variety of lighting conditions, including direct sunlight. Mirasol displays are said to have low power consumption and be fast enough to handle video playback, making them intriguing for e-readers, tablets, and other devices that might be brought outside. This whitepaper (PDF) provides a good overview of the technology, which looks very promising indeed.

As someone contemplating a tablet purchase, I’m tempted to wait and see what Mirasol has to offer. Tablets seem best suited for web surfing and media consumption, both of which I’d like to enjoy while out in the yard on a sunny afternoon.