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Readius, the First Mobile Phone With a 5 Inch DisplayAlthough it's an e-reader first, and then a phone |
By Florin Troaca, Communications News Editor
22nd of January 2008, 14:01 GMT
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Polymer Vision, the company that invented rollable displays, is ready to commercially release Readius, the first e-reader device with mobile phone functionality. Readius combines the reading-friendly
abilities of e-readers with the mobility features of cell phones into a single device. Small, powerful and with a rollable display larger than the device itself, Readius can be the perfect travel companion.
First presented back in 2007, when it was only a prototype under the name of Cellular-Book, now Readius is ready to hit the market and will be available somewhere in mid 2008. When closed, Readius has the dimensions of a normal mobile phone, measuring 100 x 55.6 x 21 mm and weighing 150 grams. Its 5 inch (4:3 aspect) rollable display with a QVGA resolution (hence 320 x 240 pixels) is perfect for reading e-books, PDF files, RSS feeds as well as other text files. Readius can provide up to 30 hours of continuous reading and supports ActiveSync and USB mass storage (USB 2.0).
The mobile phone features of Readius include 3G HSDPA and tri-band GSM, allowing worldwide calls and high-speed internet access. Furthermore, the device has e-mail capabilities (standard POP3 and IMAP as well as Gmail, Yahoo! and Microsoft Exchange) and a 4 GB storage memory that can be extended to 8 GB with a Micro SD card. Readius is powered by an ARM11 400 MHz processor. Details about its Operating System have not been disclosed yet, although we know that it has a SimpleTouch user interface with just 8 buttons.
"People are demanding greater choice and flexibility in having overall instant access to personal content and information," said Karl McGoldrick, Chief Executive Officer of Polymer Vision. "They do not want to be concerned with small screens, not being able to read in sunlight, a dead battery or a device being too bulky to carry in their pocket. Readius solves these worries and is generations ahead of anything else out there today".
To sum it up, we have a futuristic tool that is set to open new gates for the mobile industry, so we'll surely see other devices to pack rollable displays in the next years.
Readius, along with its applications and content download platform, will be showcased at the forthcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, between 11th and 14th February 2008, so those interested in knowing the real capabilities of the device should either go to Spain or wait for the summer when it will be available for everyone. Or we should better say "everyone with some extra-cash specially prepared for high-tech tools", because Readius will probably have a pretty high retail price.
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