In addition to being a phone, the Readius will also be an e-book reader, using the same E-Ink material for its display as the Amazon Kindle, a reader introduced last year by Amazon.com which has no phone functionality. E-ink is primarily notable for appearing very similar to paper, including it's reflective properties. For this reason it makes a superior display for reading from. It's also capable of retaining an image without requiring any electricity, resulting in devices that are more energy efficient than those using conventional LCD displays.
"You get the large display of e-reading, the super battery life of e-reading, and the high-end connectivity ... and the form factor and weight of a mobile phone," said Karl McGoldrick, chief executive of the company, in which electronics giant Phillips has a 25% stake.
Polymer Vision has announced that the Readius will be available some time near the middle of 2008. As of this time no price has been set.
Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 22 Jan 2008 1:56
