Plastic Logic Previews Electronic Reading Device
Posted on September 8, 2008
Someday soon you may be reading your favorite blogs and magazines on a thin electronic reader. The photograph above is a thin electronic reading device from Plastic Logic that is the size of a 8.5 x 11-inch paper.
The device was recently put on display at the DEMOfall 08 conference. It's thinner than a pad of paper and lighter than many business periodicals. The company claims the product provides a "high-quality reading experience - better than the alternatives of paper or other electronic readers on the market today."
"Research confirms professionals read much more business content than recreational content. They require access to all formats of digital content at their fingertips and want a large readable screen," said Plastic Logic CEO Richard Archuleta.
Plastic Logic says the reader supports a number of publishing formats.
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. It has an easy gesture-based user interface and powerful software tools that will help business users to organize and manage their information. Users can connect to their information either wired or wirelessly and store thousands of documents on the device. The reader incorporates E Ink technology for great readability and features low power consumption and long battery life.
We have been waiting a long time for a digital magazine or newspaper that is the same size as a magazine or newspaper. Most of today's reading devices are great for reading short content but if you want to relax at home and read a news story or magazine article you really need a much larger display. The good news is that the Plastic Logic reader is scheduled to ship in the first half of 2009. They have not named a retail price yet so it remains to be seen what the cost will be.