Got questions for the makers of the Readius?

[CommanderROR]

I have a very simple request...more pictures...
So far we have a few shots of prototype devices, but no real collection of photos of the "final" hardware design. Maybe you could provide some, either post them here or send them to me by email (you've got my address since I contacted you) and I'll upload them.

Thanks.

[Xenophon]

Originally Posted by jharker

Just to put that in some context, I want to point out that 600 DPI in a 6" diagonal screen would mean a screen with resolution 2160x2880... which is pretty high-end even for a desktop, let alone a mobile device!

At this point, the graphics card (and also the power use) becomes the limiting factor. Until graphics cards get a LOT smaller and more power-efficient, you'll probably end up trading off between resolution and refresh rate, since no mobile graphics card will be able to do high-rez AND high-refresh at the same time.

Of course, by high-refresh, I mean video speeds. Once e-ink itself becomes faster, even refreshing a high-resolution screen once should be pretty much instantaneous to the human eye...

I didn't ask for high-speed refresh. I care a lot more about the DPI than I do about the refresh speed (as long as refresh is no slower than it is now). Our current .8-second refresh will do. I wouldn't mind .1-second refresh, of course (or even faster), but I'm looking for a book-reading device, not a video device.

Originally Posted by DaleDe

I believe this to be an extreme requirement and not needed by most users. If you try and read 4 pt fonts then it could be important.

Tell that to all the people who stopped buying 300DPI printers when 600 and 1200 became available. The text really does look better with fewer jaggies; it's easier to read too. It also allows you to drop down a text-size or so without negative impact on readability (12-points to 10, or 10 down to 8 for example), which lets you put more content on a page. All good stuff.

I'd choose an improvement in DPI over an improvement in levels of gray-scale in a heartbeat. Likewise for any sub-video-speed refresh-rate improvements.

Xenophon

P.S. Improved contrast would be good too, but isn't quite as big a deal.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Xenophon

I didn't ask for high-speed refresh. I care a lot more about the DPI than I do about the refresh speed (as long as refresh is no slower than it is now). Our current .8-second refresh will do. I wouldn't mind .1-second refresh, of course (or even faster), but I'm looking for a book-reading device, not a video device.


Tell that to all the people who stopped buying 300DPI printers when 600 and 1200 became available. The text really does look better with fewer jaggies; it's easier to read too. It also allows you to drop down a text-size or so without negative impact on readability (12-points to 10, or 10 down to 8 for example), which lets you put more content on a page. All good stuff.

I'd choose an improvement in DPI over an improvement in levels of gray-scale in a heartbeat. Likewise for any sub-video-speed refresh-rate improvements.

Xenophon

P.S. Improved contrast would be good too, but isn't quite as big a deal.

Printer dpi is for pictures not for text. All of the latest stuff has photo written all over it.

dale

[Xenophon]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Printer dpi is for pictures not for text. All of the latest stuff has photo written all over it.

When speaking about inkjet printers, you are certainly correct. I was intending to be speaking about non-color laser printers -- the sort of unit that is purchased primarily for text output. Except at the very bottom end of that market, it's hard to find a 300DPI unit. Most are either 600DPI or 1200DPI. It's also worth remembering that the original LaserWriter from Apple had a 300DPI mechanism (in 1984!)... because that was the minimum for acceptable text quality with most fonts.

So, in the market-space I intended to be describing, I most respectfully disagree. The lowest resolution laser printer I've owned in the last 23 years was that very original LaserWriter. The printer after that was 600DPI (as was the next). My current multi-year-old laser printer is a 1200DPI HP unit, available for under $500. A similar unit is a necessity for anyone who prints significant amounts of text.

Xenophon

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Xenophon

When speaking about inkjet printers, you are certainly correct. I was intending to be speaking about non-color laser printers -- the sort of unit that is purchased primarily for text output. Except at the very bottom end of that market, it's hard to find a 300DPI unit. Most are either 600DPI or 1200DPI. It's also worth remembering that the original LaserWriter from Apple had a 300DPI mechanism (in 1984!)... because that was the minimum for acceptable text quality with most fonts.

So, in the market-space I intended to be describing, I most respectfully disagree. The lowest resolution laser printer I've owned in the last 23 years was that very original LaserWriter. The printer after that was 600DPI (as was the next). My current multi-year-old laser printer is a 1200DPI HP unit, available for under $500. A similar unit is a necessity for anyone who prints significant amounts of text.

Xenophon

Sorry, I can't afford a laser writer and I can't afford a eBook reader that acts like a laser writer.

Dale

[Xenophon]

"... and I can't afford a eBook reader that acts like a laser writer." is why I was asking how long it might be until they can produce a beastie with high-res that ordinary folks can afford. Higher DPI is a bigger deal than people think. Really. Ask those very same printer manufacturers why the very first laser printers were 300DPI.

Xenophon

[kartu]

Could we please stop talking utter nonsense and mixing pixels per inch and dots per inch, which is anyway offtopic here? Thank you.

2Thomas
*) any info on pricing? will your devices be cheaper than eink?
*) could you tell us a bit more about the technology itself? Namely, does the screen consume power only when it's refreshed?

[Thomas]

* Wrt technology please check this page for further explanation: http://www.polymervision.com/Technol...833/Index.html
Like with other e-readers e-ink/e-paper is just a part of our display. Polymer Vision's core technology is in making the electronics that manage the display effect truly rollable.
* Pricing: difficult to say since Polymer Vision will not sell to the end-user, the mobile network operator will do so in combination with a 3G broadband subscription / possible content / possible subsidy. Expect something in the range of high-end mobile products.

Further specs will only become available from mid-february onwards after we show samples of the commercial product in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress.

[Nate the great]

Thomas-

Will anyone from your company be attending the London Book Fair in April?

http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/

[Thomas]

Happy New Year and lots of e-reading in 2008!

We may be visiting the London Book Fair, this is not confirmed yet. Will you or your company be there?
Polymer Vision will be present at the Financial Times Media&Broadcasting conference 25-26 Febr, also in London. The conference is about digital content in an ever more mobile world.

[dudenz]

to Thomas:

I am wondering about the "mobile phone" part:
How can I enter a new number or how can I write a SMS? Is it even possible to do so?
Do I need a headset in order to make a call with the READIUS?

And also you have mentioned "touch" to be a next thing ... Is that something which is actively beeing worked on? (And is it the answer to my first question? ;-) )

Thanks for your answers!

[Thomas]

Dudenz;
Calls can be made from the contactlist or via reply function to previous calls. This normally covers about 95% of the calls made from a mobile phone. Typing text/numbers will be possible with a virtual keyboard and the 5 buttons but is not ideal for long text.
Calls can be made/received via a handset (wired or BT).
Touch is on the roadmap indeed but do not expect that for the first generations.

Originally Posted by dudenz

to Thomas:

I am wondering about the "mobile phone" part:
How can I enter a new number or how can I write a SMS? Is it even possible to do so?
Do I need a headset in order to make a call with the READIUS?

And also you have mentioned "touch" to be a next thing ... Is that something which is actively beeing worked on? (And is it the answer to my first question? ;-) )

Thanks for your answers!

[adfleisher]

Originally Posted by kartu

Could we please stop talking utter nonsense and mixing pixels per inch and dots per inch, which is anyway offtopic here? Thank you.

As a professional printer and long time tech junkie I would have to agree. Even the iPhone, which has the highest resolution screen on the mobile scene is only 200 ppi, and is very readable (at least to my eyes) at a very small character size. Comparing it to laser printing on paper is not even realistic. While laser printer manufacturers like to tout high DPI ratings, B&W laser technology doesn't even use dots to print, it lays down solid blocks of toner which are then transfered via a fusing module onto the paper. In color printing this is slightly different as the printer usually simulates a dot screen to be able to blend CMYK inks into proper hue balance.

Even very early presses used full character slugs to place ink on paper rather than dots. The DPI ratings on laser printers are just there for comparison to ink-jet which uses a modified nozzel array to virtualize a dot screen.

While I am all for higher resolution mobile displays, especially e-paper, lets compare apples to apples here.

Thomas: Any word yet on USA availability and carrier partnerships?

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by adfleisher

Thomas: Any word yet on USA availability and carrier partnerships?

considering the current state of HSDPA build out in the US (which I completely do not understand as it is a nice real mobile broadband option but it's AT&T so that sez a lot right there) you want to make sure what you are paying a premium for will be of any benefit to you. Most of the areas on the AT&T MBB map are actually EDGE not HSDPA and will stay that way for a while.

AT&T now has HSDPA in at least one city in each of 37 U.S. states and territories, but Sprint and Verizon both have more coverage. For instance, AT&T covers only Milwaukee in Wisconsin; the two competitors have Madison, and Verizon works in Green Bay. AT&T covers only Louisville in Kentucky, where the two competitors also have Lexington. In Oregon, AT&T has Portland, but the competitors add Eugene and Salem. In Indiana, both AT&T and Sprint have Gary and Indianapolis, but you'll have to go to Verizon for high-speed coverage in Evansville, Fort Wayne, or South Bend.

Link to full article: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2156444,00.asp

And here is a list to show just how limited HSDPA coverage is in the US:

http://www.wireless.att.com/coverage.../popUp_3g.html

AT&T data coverage map, but it's sneaky and you have to really zoom in to find the pockets of HSDPA:

http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/

Now EDGE is almost everywhere but BFD so are Sprint & Verizon's EVDO Rev0 & 1xRTT coverage...if all you are doing is downloading ebooks then that will be adequate but it's going to be quite a premium for a service you won't see until the device is pretty much obsolete.

But that kool factor on this phone is just beyond any of that...just would be hard to justify the cost of the HSDPA hardware in the device if I would pretty much be guaranteed to never be able to use it.

So, I guess my question is...I want just a cool roll-a-way book reader... So, WHEN???

[tompe]

Originally Posted by adfleisher

As a professional printer and long time tech junkie I would have to agree. Even the iPhone, which has the highest resolution screen on the mobile scene is only 200 ppi, and is very readable (at least to my eyes) at a very small character size.

The Nokia Internet Tablets has 225 ppi. The OpenMoke phone Neo 1973 has 260 ppi.