Published on September 8, 2005 By Black Xero In WinCustomize News

The dawn of civilization blessed on human race with the exploration of papyrus and invention of Paper. Through paper, man learned how to write and educate, convey his emotions, and express his self. In 20th century, Flood of Information Technology (IT) rendered many old means of information but paper is still the most suitable medium of passing and getting the information.

Phillips has made a prototype of e-Paper which has more functionality than the e-reader currently being used and has the familiar ease of paper.

The Readius is the world’s first prototype of a functional electronic-document reader that can unroll its display to a scale larger than the device itself. With four gray levels, the monochrome, 5-inch QVGA (320 pixels x 240 pixels) display provides paper-like viewing comfort with a high contrast ratio for reading-intensive applications, including text, graphics, and electronic maps.

  Using a bi-stable electrophoretic display effect from E Ink Corp., the display consumes little power and is easy to read, even in bright daylight. Once the user has finished reading, the display can be rolled back into the pocket-size (100 mm x 60 mm x 20 mm) device.

Based on Philips Polymer Vision’s PV-QML5 rollable display reference design, the Readius was created in order to demonstrate the viability of the rollable-display concept in mobile applications and to gain customer feedback at the IFA 2005.
 


           

 


Comments
on Sep 08, 2005
That's so killer. Didn't William Gibson predict this, oh, about 20 years ago?
on Sep 08, 2005
Wow, I've read about this in Scientific American. It's cool to see something actually make use of the technology though. They faked this sort of device in Gene Roddenbury's Earth: Final Conflict a few years ago. Sci-fi becomes reality, woot!
on Sep 08, 2005
Sweet! With any luck, 5 years down the road this'll be as common as cellphones.
on Sep 08, 2005
What would one have to do to get this now? I want it!
on Sep 08, 2005
incredible. Simply incredible.
on Sep 08, 2005
I'm holding out for the technology that replaces the toilet...

But, this is really cool and I would kill your dog to get one.
on Sep 08, 2005
thats very slick. i hope something like this, or more likely what follows it, can perhaps diminish our reliance on paper.
on Sep 08, 2005
With any luck, 5 years down the road this'll be as common as cellphones.



I kinda hope not.
Seems over half the people driving and talking on cellphones don't watch the road as it is. Soon I'll have to worry about even more people reading while they're driving?

Other than that, it's pretty cool.
on Sep 08, 2005
Okay, I admit it...I'm a gadget lover...now how do I get my hands on this beauty?
on Sep 08, 2005
SOOOOO COOL I can't wait to see these in stores!
on Sep 08, 2005
WORD!!!
on Sep 08, 2005
Saw it last week. About time something more than just buzz came out. Good thing about this stuff is that, a) it's foldable; and the image will remain on the paper even when the there's no power.

There are already electronic paper devices on the market in Japan, by the way. Can't recall the name of the manufacturer.
on Sep 08, 2005
I'm holding out for the technology that replaces the toilet...


Hmmm... this theoretically could be the replacement for toilet PAPER, however, it has shitty video quality...
on Sep 09, 2005
YES! I've been waiting for this tech to mature... I read pretty much incessantly, and if it's portable media (that isn't a dead tree), I'd much rather use this than a standard PDA.
on Sep 09, 2005
Didn't William Gibson predict this, oh, about 20 years ago?

Try Isaac Asimov more like 60+ years ago.