Remember News4Me? It's a project launched by Deutsche Telekom aimed at creating individual electronic newspapers where a user can subscribe to complete issues or to individual sections from differing newspapers. According to
latest news (German article), they are about to launch the first trial involving thirty participants from Bonn and Berlin who will be able to read news on a device that is "already on the market." So I guess that excludes the Polymer Vision Readius, which I thought would be an
excellent candidate for this project. Instead, it's rumored that Apple's iPhone will be used during the trial. Apparently, Telekom's researchers are still looking for the optimal device. Which the Kindle isn't, they're claimed to have said, due to its "closed operation system" (uhm, Linux, closed?) and inability to deal with UMTS/HSDPA connectivity.
Shaking my head in disbelief, I checked some more, and indeed stumbled over this
very recent and revealing interview (German), where Deutsche Telekom project leader Peter Möckel explains that the ideal device would have to have a display comparable to paper size A5, offer very good readability in day light, with long battery life, and cell phone connectivity. Neither the Amazon Kindle nor the Sony Reader would offer the platform architecture they require. Mr. Möckel had little negative to say about the Readius (fueling my hope yet again), but he'd wish for a bigger screen. In the interview, Möckel referred to the iPhone as being too small, though he also said that in the first trials the iPhone would be used to test the aspects of individualized newspaper delivery. If he is right, News4Me will officially launch in Germany next year.