[Hadrien]

Almost 5 years after the false start from Cytale and its Cybook, more news are coming about e-ink. Presented for the first time in March 2006, the e-ink version of Les Echos (a french newspaper, mostly about economy) should be released in Spring 2007.

"This version of Les Echos will give access to content from the newspaper, the website, stock exchange rates, a lexicon and podcasts. We'll be ready in April, maybe March." said Philippe Jeannet, responsible for the electronic editions of the newspaper, during Intergraphic.

After a few test with devices such as the Sony Reader and the iRex iLiad, Les Echos finally chose the chinese company, PVI, whose player is also equipped with an e-ink screen. "Our device will support Bluetooth, Wifi and GPRS connections. There's 2 batteries ready for the device, one for the connection, the other one for the screen with an estimated 8500 pages turns. " explained Philippe Jeannet.

Although Les Echos will have ads in this e-ink version, the economic model will be based around subscription. It should retail with a PVI device and a single year of subscription for 500€, but they're also working on a way to deliver this edition without selling the device or for those who already own such a device. "It's a great offer for everyone. The device will cost almost nothing for our subscribers who already have to pay 416€ for a full year of subscription, and the editor won't have to pay anymore the 55 cents cost of printing and delivering the newspaper."

Les Echos could work in the future with other newspapers to deliver their content for e-ink devices. According to our intel, there's still some ongoing talks with Sony and Amazon too.