AfterDawn: Tech news

3G phone with e-book reader and 5 inch screen to be available this year

Written by Rich Fiscus @ 22 Jan 2008 1:56 User comments (13)

3G phone with e-book reader and 5 inch screen to be available this year A Dutch company called Polymer Vision hopes to make a big splash this year with the introduction of their new Readius, a 3G mobile phone with a 5 inch display that folds into the device when not in use. The technology that makes this possible is called the Rollable Screen, which involves a display that can literally be rolled up to fit into the device.
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.

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13 user comments

122.1.2008 06:38
red2tango
Inactive

ugly

222.1.2008 07:56

What, you or the phone?:)

322.1.2008 08:44
fgamer
Inactive

they can keep it.

422.1.2008 10:37

they had phones like that in "Earth Final Conflict"...

522.1.2008 10:57

Originally posted by tefarko:
they had phones like that in "Earth Final Conflict"...
I have been waiting for a phone like this. I am sure the first, maybe second generation wave of these kinds of phone will not be that good, but it is a start to some pretty cool phones. More energy effient means more talk and standby time.

622.1.2008 11:12
vinny13
Inactive

Cool

722.1.2008 14:32

seems pretty interesting,i´m sure they´ll find a lot more uses por it.

822.1.2008 14:39
mark5hs
Inactive

Is this OLED?

922.1.2008 21:29
tripplite
Inactive

ha ah ah a h poor Europeans always behind the edge, poor souls

1023.1.2008 01:04
sachxn
Inactive

They are just trying to hit Kindle and iPhone with one stone but because of its design its sure to be a flop.

<a href="http://apple-iphone.blogspot.com">Sachin</a> <a href="http://sql-plsql.blogspot.com">Sachin</a>

1123.1.2008 01:28
sachxn
Inactive

They are just trying to hit Kindle and iPhone with one stone but because of its design its sure to be a flop.
Sachin Dhall

129.2.2008 16:36

This this is so cool its a must. in 3 years it will be a color. color screen and you can watch a movie on it. Think about it rss feed live how cool is that on your phone easy to read I want it now

1318.2.2008 01:51

Originally posted by red2tango:
ugly
I would have to agree. it is good idea but design needs major change.

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