14 DAY TRIAL // It's becoming pretty clear that classical newspapers will go extinct at some point in the future, either because electronic media will overcome the classical one or due to the fact that the Earth's forests will be considered far more important for our lives than reading the paper in the subway, on our way to work. And it seems that the Plastic Logic company is quite ready for that moment, since it has just unveiled its Electronic-Reading Device, a supposedly business-oriented product that, however, might actually target a much wider range of consumers in the future.
As the manufacturer informs us, the first thing that will draw anyone's attention to this product is the unusual form factor (the size of 8.5 x 11-inch paper), which houses a big, easy-to-read display. Furthermore, the reader incorporates E Ink technology for enhanced readability, features low power consumption and a long battery life (just the ingredients most consumers crave for).
Plastic Logic’s display technology uses high resolution transistor arrays on flexible plastic substrates, manufactured at a low temperature. The promise of plastic electronics is to disintermediate the traditional silicon based semiconductor industry with components and products that are lighter, less expensive, and more environmentally friendly.
Another factor that really differentiates the Plastic Logic reader from all the similar devices currently available on the market seems to be its extended level of compatibility with a wide array of files. Thus, according to the company's own statement, the Plastic Logic reader supports a full range of business document formats, such as Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint, and Adobe PDFs, as well as newspapers, periodicals and books.
Additionally, the new portable reader features a user-friendly gesture-based interface and powerful software tools that will help users organize and manage their information. Users can connect to their information either wired or wirelessly and store a large number of documents on the device itself (although the company doesn't provide any significant information regarding the actual amount of available memory).
Unfortunately, we'll have to wait quite a lot for the finite product to actually be available, since the Plastic Logic reader is slated to arrive in Q2 of 2009. As for the pricing... still a mystery.
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