Some Readius hands-on photos

Alexander Turcic · 12-13-2008, 04:54 AM

I completely forgot to upload these, but I have a couple of photos I made of the Readius during the Frankfurter Buchmesse exhibit last October.

I had a chat with Polymer Vision CTO Dr. Edzer Huitema, who is the kind of guy you'd like to have a beer with. Between gulps, he will impart the details of how flexible e-paper really works. And if you order another, he'll give you a hint or two of what we can expect from his company in near future.

At the time of the meeting, PV was still working on some finishing touches on the Readius, in particular in regard to the software and UI design. From what I've seen, the newspaper display looks quite compelling; it allows you to see the newspaper in layout mode and then, if you wish, to zoom into the articles. The articles are presented in reflowable text mode. Well, it's wasn't perfect yet, as you can see in one of the photos, the software appeared to have some issues with displaying unicode characters.

What really does work well is the folding of the display. I admit I was nervous the first time Edzer handed me the device and asked me to open and close it. It takes some adjusting to fold a display if you are like me used to handle your precious e-book reader with utmost care.

PS: The last photo is not really related.

Donnageddon · 12-13-2008, 05:23 AM

FIRST!

Ooops, thought I was on Digg. Sorry.

Donnageddon · 12-13-2008, 05:27 AM

That last picture looks like Neal Peart's drumset.

Donnageddon · 12-13-2008, 05:42 AM

Quote:

It takes some adjusting to fold a display if you are like me used to handle your precious e-book reader with utmost care.

Did the Readius feel durable? While I still have some trepidation regarding the ergonomics for the Readius as a full time reader, I could see it, and flexible eInk, as a great mobile reader. As a mobile reader for newspapers it would have advantages to the PDA, iPhone alternatives.

montsnmags · 12-13-2008, 07:16 AM

I was interested in my Iliad when I was researching it, and quite anticipatory when ordered.

However, and as I've said before, this excites me and I WANT ONE OF THESE!. Yep, I've read what it's capable of, and what it isn't...but the mind wants what it wants, and I love the form-factor and fold concept of this device. I'd buy a mobile "smartphone" that folded like this. I'd buy a UMPC that folded like this. I'd by a napkin that...no wait, they already do. I just love it, and love it even more with every picture I see of it.

I wish, even if it were available, that I could justify it. I wish them well, such popularity that their ideas spread to ready availability down here and new product development down the line (stylus, touchscreen, handwriting recognition...a man can dream).

Thanks, Alex.

Cheers,
Marc

AJ Starr · 12-13-2008, 11:31 AM

Last I checked on the Readius, it was a cell phone that you had to use a cell phone service. Is that still correct, or can it be a stand alone device?

Gertjan · 12-13-2008, 12:29 PM

I've seen this thing in action once and it looks pretty nifty, albeit the screen resolution seems way too low to display a reasonable amount of text in a nice way.

Also, the homepage of Polymer is offline for quite some time now: http://www.polymervision.nl/

Stenis · 12-13-2008, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gertjan

I've seen this thing in action once and it looks pretty nifty, albeit the screen resolution seems way too low to display a reasonable amount of text in a nice way.

Also, the homepage of Polymer is offline for quite some time now: http://www.polymervision.nl/

Try this: http://www.polymervision.com/ ;-)

TadW · 12-13-2008, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stenis

Try this: http://www.polymervision.com/ ;-)

or this: http://www.readius.com/

zelda_pinwheel · 12-13-2008, 01:55 PM

*sigh* there is no possible way i could claim to need this.

nonetheless, i want one so much just looking at the photos makes me drool.

slayda · 12-13-2008, 04:10 PM

Yeah, me too!!

ProDigit · 12-13-2008, 06:08 PM

Gazet van Antwerpen!!
It's my local newspaper from when I still lived in Belgium!

zelda_pinwheel · 12-13-2008, 06:15 PM

Libération is my favorite newspaper.

Kris777 · 12-13-2008, 07:26 PM

what will be the price for it and what formats will be supported?

By the way, I spoke with people from Sony and iREX but I didn't find Readius booth on Frankfurter Buchmesse.

Alexander Turcic · 12-14-2008, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kris777

what will be the price for it and what formats will be supported?

By the way, I spoke with people from Sony and iREX but I didn't find Readius booth on Frankfurter Buchmesse.

They were presenting at the Forum Innovation on Oct 15 and had the Readius on display at the MVB booth (Hall 4.0 Stand D1339).

12-13-2008, 04:54 AM	#1
Alexander Turcic Fully Converged Posts: 12,730 Karma: 71589 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Switzerland Device: Sony Portable Reader	Some Readius hands-on photos I completely forgot to upload these, but I have a couple of photos I made of the Readius during the Frankfurter Buchmesse exhibit last October. I had a chat with Polymer Vision CTO Dr. Edzer Huitema, who is the kind of guy you'd like to have a beer with. Between gulps, he will impart the details of how flexible e-paper really works. And if you order another, he'll give you a hint or two of what we can expect from his company in near future. At the time of the meeting, PV was still working on some finishing touches on the Readius, in particular in regard to the software and UI design. From what I've seen, the newspaper display looks quite compelling; it allows you to see the newspaper in layout mode and then, if you wish, to zoom into the articles. The articles are presented in reflowable text mode. Well, it's wasn't perfect yet, as you can see in one of the photos, the software appeared to have some issues with displaying unicode characters. What really does work well is the folding of the display. I admit I was nervous the first time Edzer handed me the device and asked me to open and close it. It takes some adjusting to fold a display if you are like me used to handle your precious e-book reader with utmost care. PS: The last photo is not really related. Attached Thumbnails

12-13-2008, 05:27 AM	#3
Donnageddon The Land Stander!!! Posts: 1,570 Karma: 22254 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Seattle-ish Device: EB 1150/palm 72s/Sony reader 505/Kindle/iPod Touch/PRS 700	That last picture looks like Neal Peart's drumset. Last edited by Donnageddon; 12-13-2008 at 05:30 AM.

12-13-2008, 07:16 AM	#5
montsnmags Interfenestral Monkey Posts: 6,340 Karma: 81172 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Noosa Heads, Oz Device: Iliad, iPod Touch, iPhone	I was interested in my Iliad when I was researching it, and quite anticipatory when ordered. However, and as I've said before, this excites me and I WANT ONE OF THESE!. Yep, I've read what it's capable of, and what it isn't...but the mind wants what it wants, and I love the form-factor and fold concept of this device. I'd buy a mobile "smartphone" that folded like this. I'd buy a UMPC that folded like this. I'd by a napkin that...no wait, they already do. I just love it, and love it even more with every picture I see of it. I wish, even if it were available, that I could justify it. I wish them well, such popularity that their ideas spread to ready availability down here and new product development down the line (stylus, touchscreen, handwriting recognition...a man can dream). Thanks, Alex. Cheers, Marc __________________ I'z in ur beanie, wearin' ur monkeyface.

12-13-2008, 01:55 PM	#10
zelda_pinwheel WWHALD Posts: 24,577 Karma: 102009 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paris, France Device: ebookwise 1150	sigh there is no possible way i could claim to need this. nonetheless, i want one so much just looking at the photos makes me drool. __________________ blog.ex-elibris.fr : les liseuses, les ebooks, nos lectures, la technologie… I don't want none of that mischief on my eels! - pdurrant by popular demand (well, vr is sure demanding, at least), we bring you the next exciting avatar in zelda's wardrobe, by the inimitable Madam Broshkina.

12-13-2008, 04:10 PM	#11
slayda Retired & reading more! Posts: 2,518 Karma: 14639 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Alabama, USA Device: Palm TX, EZ Reader, Cybook Gen3, Kindle 1, Pocket Pro	Yeah, me too!! __________________ "People generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for" - Harper Lee

12-13-2008, 05:23 AM	#2
Donnageddon The Land Stander!!! Posts: 1,570 Karma: 22254 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Seattle-ish Device: EB 1150/palm 72s/Sony reader 505/Kindle/iPod Touch/PRS 700	FIRST! Ooops, thought I was on Digg. Sorry.

12-13-2008, 11:31 AM	#6
AJ Starr Evangelist Posts: 428 Karma: 848 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Nebraska, USA Device: ASTAK Blue PEZ with customized design	Last I checked on the Readius, it was a cell phone that you had to use a cell phone service. Is that still correct, or can it be a stand alone device?

12-13-2008, 12:29 PM	#7
Gertjan IREX Developer Posts: 46 Karma: 138 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: Irex DR800S, DR1000S, iLiad	I've seen this thing in action once and it looks pretty nifty, albeit the screen resolution seems way too low to display a reasonable amount of text in a nice way. Also, the homepage of Polymer is offline for quite some time now: http://www.polymervision.nl/

12-13-2008, 06:08 PM	#12
ProDigit Moving... Posts: 901 Karma: 2222 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: PRS-505	Gazet van Antwerpen!! It's my local newspaper from when I still lived in Belgium!

12-13-2008, 06:15 PM	#13
zelda_pinwheel WWHALD Posts: 24,577 Karma: 102009 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paris, France Device: ebookwise 1150	Libération is my favorite newspaper. __________________ blog.ex-elibris.fr : les liseuses, les ebooks, nos lectures, la technologie… I don't want none of that mischief on my eels! - pdurrant by popular demand (well, vr is sure demanding, at least), we bring you the next exciting avatar in zelda's wardrobe, by the inimitable Madam Broshkina.

12-13-2008, 07:26 PM	#14
Kris777 Master Posts: 1,094 Karma: 1685 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: jetBook	what will be the price for it and what formats will be supported? By the way, I spoke with people from Sony and iREX but I didn't find Readius booth on Frankfurter Buchmesse.

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