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Scroll on a roll as ePaper goes mainstream in ebook reader
E-paper screens are finally hitting the mainstream, judging for today's announcement that Borders is to stock an ebook reader. The Iliad (pictured left) uses E-ink technology from the US company married to technology from Philips and spin-off company iRex.
Potentially more exciting is the Readius mobile phone from Polymer Vision, another Philips spin-off company. It uses organic (ie carbon) polymer semiconductor transistors for the driving matrix; and flexible polymers elsewhere in the screen.
The result on the Readius is a 5in diagonal screen that can scroll into a device the size of a standard mobile phone (left). It supports 3G and HSDPA and is expected to be on sale around late summer.
Its long-term significance is that it could lead to pocketable devices with screens you do not need to take a magnifying glass to. Another design often mooted is that of a folding screen, examples of which have shown up at trade shows.
Microsoft research has indicated that a screen somewhere between 5in and 7in is about the minimum for comfortable working use. I'd say 7in is minimum for stylus input – smaller screens like that on the oQo and the Sony's UMPC are virtually unusable for handwriting.
The important point is that a comfortably-sized screen is too big to put in today's pockets. Ultra-mobiles and slightly smaller Mobile Internet Devices (Mids) are getting thinner and lightER, so that it is not inconceivable that pockets will be made larger to accommodate them.
But some crafty design around a scrolling screen could make that change unnecessary.
Posted by Clive Akass on May 9, 2008 | Permalink
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