Fourteen months after Kent Displays Inc. launched a unit to drive B2B sales, CEO Albert Green said the company is "encouraged" by sales of its new Blackboard e-writer, the first product that — according to Green — "fits squarely" into that market.

Kent Displays is best known for its pioneering consumer e-writing tablet, the Boogie Board. The battery-powered notebook allows a user to write on it, much like a normal sheet of paper, but then touch a button to erase everything on the screen.

Since the first Boogie Board was launched in 2010, the Kent-based company has introduced several iterations, including e-writers with multicolor displays or ones that save content and sync to other devices. The company has sold just over 11 million Boogies Board units to date, about half of those in the last two years, it said.

Blackboard, however, represents an expansion of — rather than an addition to — the Boogie Board franchise, Green explained.

"The idea behind Blackboard, from the technology that is in it and how we are promoting it and marketing it to a lot of its features, is that it is really intended to appeal to an older or more adult demographic," he said. "It is more of a utilitarian tool in terms of the kinds of things you can do with it and also how it incorporates into your everyday life."

The Blackboard e-writer retains key attributes of Boogie Boards, such as the pen-on-paper feel and the ability to operate for years without needing to be plugged in or charged. The devices only use power to erase so they can run off a small coin cell battery for five to seven years. Liquid crystals, positioned into reflective layers with pressure on the screen, provide what the user sees.

But the Blackboard, which retails for $45, is bigger than conventional e-writers — the biggest on the market, in fact. Boogie Boards, for example, range from pocket-size units that are about 4.5 inches tall to tablet-size devices that are about 8 to 9 inches. They also range in price from about $30 to more than $100, according to Kent Display's website.

Blackboard dimensions equal that of a standard piece of paper — 8.5 by 11 inches — which, Green said, was by customer demand.

In addition, the writing surface is semi-transparent so users can insert lined paper, grids or any sort of template behind the screen as a guide. Architects or mechanical engineers might prefer a grid pattern; basketball coaches, an outline of the court. And users can erase portions of the screen without wiping it completely clean.

"You just flip over the stylist and rub out what you don't want just like a pencil eraser tip," he said.

Those traits are what Green and his team hope will fuel e-writer growth beyond its current audience.

"This is really a business kind of offering," Green said, "and in that context, it makes more sense of why Blackboard is so important to us."

Electronic display industry watcher Ken Werner, principal of Norwalk, Conn.-based Nutmeg Consultants, said Boogie Boards are used mostly by kids either at home or at school, or by adults for minor tasks such as note-taking or list making.

"I believe the Boogie Board family will stay in its current niches based on functionality and price. The question is whether the additional functionality and increased size of the new product can establish it as a semi-professional and professional product," Werner said.

Kent Displays marketing communications manager James Alay said early indications are good. As part of the October launch, the company took Blackboard on a five-city tour, setting up demonstration booths in business districts in Cleveland, Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles and Nashville and letting passersby try the product. Photos and videos of their experiences and reactions were shared widely on social media.

"What we discovered is that people love the semi-transparency of Blackboard," Alay said. "I think that is a big part of the reason why it exceeded our projections and we are sold out."

The private company of roughly 90 employees does not share sales or revenue information, but Green said Kent Displays "had a good year" based primarily on sales of products in the Boogie Board portfolio.

The impact of Blackboard will be better to judge once the company calculates numbers from holiday sales, he said.

Still, Green, like Alay, is encouraged by the early uptake and feedback. His team is already working on a whiteboard version of Blackboard. In the end, he noted, the new e-writer is not intended to replace the company's flagship Boogie Board portfolio.

"It's a new platform that will appeal to new users," Green said.