Polymer Vision’s Readius was eagerly awaited – It was the first rollable, pocket sized, ‘screen bigger than the device’, ereader. However, it hasn’t made it to market, and Wired have the scoop on Polymer Vision’s struggles -
Polymer Vision, a a spin-off of electronics giant Phillips, needs a cash infusion to keep going, says CEO Karl McGoldrick.
The rollable display is actually more impressive than a merely flexible one, as Polymer Vision are quick to point out -
As thin as paper, a rollable display can be completely rolled up into the size of a finger.
The rollable display must be
a) extremely thin;
b) comprise only of mechanically rollable layers;
c) have an optimal adhesion between all layers of the display; and
d) be capable of been rolled or folded many times over periods of years.
Click on a thumbnail for the high resolution images -
Readius Pocket Reader - Will Amazon buy it?
And another image -
Polymer Vision's Readius
Apparently, it took 15 years of research at Phillips Labs, and then at Polymer Vision, before Readius was created. And its ready to roll out, except for the slight issue of money -
McGoldrick says he’s talking to a few investors to refinance his venture and get new funding. And he’s confident of closing a deal in the next few weeks. “We are ready to go into production but all depends on exactly when the funding comes through,” he says. “Our display is perfect and the device is solid.”
Readius would be perfect as Kindle 2.5 or Pocket Kindle. The 5 inch screen gives a nice in-between screen – bigger than cellphones and still fits in your pocket. And there’s a huge coolness factor to having a rollable display.
Amazon should just buy the company. At the least, invest in it to hedge its bets, and provide content for it.
Top Readius Features
- Just 115 grams. Its really small sized too – 115 * 57 * 21 mm.
- 5″ display with 16 shades of gray.
- 30 hours of continuous reading
- Worldwide connectivity – Impressive that it has Global wireless connectivity (Tri Band/3.5G HSDPA).
USB and Bluetooth 2.0. - ARM11 400MHz Processor.
- Storage: High Capacity Micro SD Card Slot.
- Simple UI with just 8 touch buttons.
Readius Technical Specifications
Applications eReader Supporting HTML, PDF, ASCII (specific eBook reader to be announced) RSS Reader Support both text (including pictures) and audio (podcast) E-mail Reader POP3 and IMAP email supported Agenda viewer Included Audio player MP3 / AAC / WMA Image Viewer JPEG / PNG / GIF / BMP Mechanical Dimensions (closed) 115 x 57 x 21 mm (L) x (W) x (T) Dimensions (open) 115 x 160 x 21 mm (L) x (W) x (T) Weight 115g Display Type Polymer Vision proprietary rollable active -matrix electrophoretic display Backplane Polymer Vision proprietary rollable active-matrix technology Frontplane E Ink® Vizplextm electrophoretic imaging film Rollability 7.5 mm (0.3″) radius Weight 5.6 g complete display module Size (diagonal) 120 mm (5″) active area Refresh 0.5 s Grey levels 16 Resolution QVGA, 320 x 240 UI Buttons 5 touch (capacitive) buttons with optical feedback, tactile buttons for options, back and power CPU Application Processor ARM11 – 400MHz Memory RAM 128 MB Internal Storage 256MB Extendable Storage High Capacity Micro SD Operating
systemOpen OS Microsoft Win CE Connectivity GSM/GPRS/EDGE Tri-band UMTS/HSDPA Dual band USB - USB FS (slave mode) for data transfer and host synchronization
- Support charging through USB
- Connect to PC or Apple Mac via USB cable
- Readius can behave as USB mass storage device or connect with the PC clientBluetooth - Bluetooth 2.0 EDR for accessory connection (eg. headset, keyboard) DVB-H (optional) Power Battery Rechargeable Power consumption Up to 30 hours active reading or 7500 page refreshes
You can read more at the Readius website.
Filed under: evolution Tagged: | pocket kindle, readius
For those of us who remember the series “Earth Final Conflict” the Radius is the ‘Global’ a multifunction communication device/computer interface/ video player etc. which the characters used. This is potentially much more than an ereader!
I want one!