Attendees at an emerging technologies conference taking place this week in San Diego got a first look at an electronic newspaper — a lightweight portable screen that is constantly updated with breaking news.
Mountain View, Calif.-based Plastic Logic said in a release that the device, which is unnamed so far, is expected to go on sale in the first half of next year. Made from a flexible, lightweight plastic instead of glass, its screen is the size of a sheet of copier paper, can be continually updated via a wireless link and can store and display hundreds of pages of documents.
It uses the same technology as the Sony eReader and Amazon.com‘s Kindle, a legible black-and-white display developed by E Ink Corporation, but the screen is more than twice as large, making it big enough to provide a newspaper-like layout, the release said.
The technology could revitalize newspaper companies struggling with rising delivery and production costs, decreased ad revenue and lower circulations. Plastic Logic said it will announce in January which news organization will be the first to use the device and how much it will cost consumers.
Check out The New York Times‘ story on the technology for a photo. (The Plastic Logic is the device on the far left.)