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E-paper display is on the way

Polymer Vision is taking e-paper technology to real world applications that are more useful than the e-book. The spin-off has announced the first commercial cell phone that features an e-paper display that unfolds to be used as the primary display.

The Readius is the first of its kind with the fold-out e-paper technology but is a little more than just a simple phone. Other than its UMTS/HSDPA and GSM/GPRS/EDGE network capabilities the device includes a number of features that match current media-capable phones. The device features a 5-inch QVGA display at a resolution of 320x240.

Processing power is defined by a 400 MHz ARM11 processor which pumps out enough power to play the latest mobile media formats including MP3s and audiobooks on the Microsoft WinCE platform. The device features 128MB of RAM and 256MB of internal storage. A Micro SDHC slot allows the use of removable high-capacity flash media for storage of media and documents, currently allowing storage capacities of up to 32GB of SDHC with a single flash chip. There is a built-in USB 2.0 port allows synchronization with Microsoft Windows-based PCs using Microsoft's ActiveSync software.

The Readius is said to operate continuously for 30 hours while displaying documents which is about 7-10 times longer than current phones and media devices, and that battery life is while displaying text/e-book content. This longer battery life is possible due to the use of the e-paper display as minimal power is required for this display.

Features such as standard POP3 and IMAP email account access through an ISP or web based email services also add to the device making it a type of smart phone. This first generation Readius is stated to shine as a text reader with e-books and documents. The e-book reader will most likely be the main selling point of this device as the display is a 16 color grayscale display.

The Readius internet portal will be used to push content to the device upon user configuration of the device's user interface and content preferences. Details on this internet portal should become available as we close in on the launch date.

The device has 8 "SimpleTouch" buttons that act as the basis for navigation through the device's features and applications which include an RSS and e-book reader, an email reader, an audio player, and the phone functionality. Email write support may be added at a later time but will not be available at launch time due to the lack of keyboard support. The Readius' specifications do list Bluetooth 2.0 EDR capability for connection with compatible devices such as headsets and keyboards so it may only be a matter of a software update to allow email/document writing capabilities.

Polymer Vision is also planning a successor to this first generation Readius with an 8-inch color screen, however, that model is not planned to go into production for another 4-5 years. With this planned second generation device, video content may be a possibility along with other media-friendly features.

Pricing information, geographic availability, and service provider exclusivity of the Polymer Vision Readius have not yet been announced but the company's press release states availability of the device sometime during Summer of 2008.

Last year Polymer Vision announced an agreement with Telecom Italia to bring an early version of the Readius device to market but no additional word has come of that just yet.

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It doesn't look like a cell phone...
By CrazyBernie on 2/1/2008 3:04:57 PM , Rating: 1
... but it's crazy cool technology to say the least.




RE: It doesn't look like a cell phone...
By Ryl3x on 2/1/2008 3:05:29 PM , Rating: 2
ITS A TRAP!


By ImSpartacus on 2/1/2008 5:23:09 PM , Rating: 2
shhh theres no /b/tards here, no one gets that stuff.


By SharkManEXR on 2/1/2008 6:25:50 PM , Rating: 2
it sure is; those pictures are photoshopped.


RE: It doesn't look like a cell phone...
By omnicronx on 2/1/2008 3:24:20 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
It doesn't look like a cell phone...
This is why i find it so interesting. Technology like this could radically change the look of cellphones.


RE: It doesn't look like a cell phone...
By ImSpartacus on 2/1/2008 5:25:30 PM , Rating: 2
Something tells me this first gen product is more of a showboat than anything.

Basic design of most cells phones using an E-paper display will soon gravitate towards the more traditional cell phone look.

I personally dont want to have to unroll my cell phone just to check the time or something like that.


By mindless1 on 2/2/2008 5:45:10 PM , Rating: 2
Consider the wrist watch, a bit longer than 30 hours runtime.


By JediJeb on 2/1/2008 4:02:46 PM , Rating: 2
Sorta reminds me of a gadget I saw on a SciFi series once, I believe it was Earth: Final Conflict, where the had the hand held phones type devices with the slide out screen.


No color?
By plowak on 2/1/2008 3:31:36 PM , Rating: 2
A number of presentations of Polymer Vision devices have been showing up on YouTube all without color display. I remember when Philips showed a 1" sq demo back in 2002 and it was in color. My thought then was, and still is, that this stuff could replace wall picture/posters if it was cheap enough. Imagine all the paintings of the Louvre/family album/whatever cycling through on the living room wall.




RE: No color?
By ImSpartacus on 2/1/2008 5:28:18 PM , Rating: 2
Probably too expensive.


Video of the phone in action:
By masher2 (blog) on 2/1/2008 4:22:06 PM , Rating: 4
Cool
By AlphaVirus on 2/1/2008 3:31:34 PM , Rating: 2
That looks very cool and honestly, could you imagine the shock-and-awe if you had that at work or around your friends.

"Oh you have a flip phone?"
"No, I have a triple flip phone."

This would be pretty cool as a 2nd phone at first, it might take some getting used too.




Not 32GB
By firewolfsm on 2/1/2008 3:38:27 PM , Rating: 2
Just letting you know that this thing can't take those 32GB SD cards, only Micro SD, you should probably edit that.




Nokia 888 conceot
By plowak on 2/1/2008 4:06:17 PM , Rating: 2
Check out the Nokia 888 concept on YouTube, this one is with color. Sony's got something too. I think we're about to enter the flexible polymer revolution. Let's see, "Then on the bathroom wall, displaying month by month, beginning with Miss January 1955..."




Phone Directory
By JohnnyCNote on 2/1/2008 4:56:35 PM , Rating: 2
What it needs is to display a phone directory, so we don't have to call 411 at $1.00+ a call. They could be distributed on memory chips so one doesn't have to wade through online directories full of ads . . .




Refresh rate? Backlight?
By rcsinfo on 2/2/2008 1:37:27 PM , Rating: 2
I'm looking for more info on the screen - is it backlit or somehow illuminated? How fast is the refresh rate?

The reason I ask is that I have a Sony ebook reader that uses e-paper and I love it. Its very easy on the eyes vs. a computer monitor, IMHO. But the screen refresh is very slow compared to LCD. For an ebook this doesn't matter too much, the changing of the screen is like flipping pages. The screen is also not backlit, which again doesn't both me too much for a book reader.

However for a cell phone I would want a fast screen refresh for scrolling contacts, texting, maps, and all the other stuff that I do on my phone. The backlight is also a necessity.




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