Hearst to launch wireless e-reader, potentially revolutionize print media

Hot on the heels of Amazon’s highly anticipated Kindle 2 launch comes this: news that Hearst Corporation — which publishes iconic magazines including Cosmopolitan and Esquire along with the San Francisco Chronicle — will be launching its own wireless e-reader. While many may be quick to label this forthcoming device as a Kindle competitor, the concept behind this is far more elaborate than simply knocking Amazon from its perch. In an effort to “preserve the business model that has sustained newspapers and magazines” while moving forward with technology, Hearst is planning to ship a larger-than-usual reader (around the size of a standard sheet of paper), giving publishers (and advertisers, by extension) about the same amount of space as they’re used to when pushing out e-articles. Reports suggest that the device — which will do the monochrome thing until a color version debuts later — could land as early as this year, with Hearst & Friends planning to sell them to publishers and “take a cut of the revenue derived from selling magazines and newspapers on these devices.” No exaggeration here — this may be the biggest news we’ve heard for print media in years, not to mention the promise of an all-new e-reader for gadget nerds to swoon over.

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Hearst to launch wireless e-reader, potentially revolutionize print media originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: ASU’s touch-screen ePaper display evokes the future from the past

With the Kindle back in the news, everyone’s interested in showing off their E-Ink displays. Here we have the latest video from Arizona State University’s Flexible Display Center. Their new bendy display is touch-sensitive (stylus or finger) and makes us long for Apple’s old Newton for some reason. Check the video after the break to see why.

[Via I4U News]

Continue reading Video: ASU’s touch-screen ePaper display evokes the future from the past

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Video: ASU’s touch-screen ePaper display evokes the future from the past originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Feb 2009 04:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Android-powered E-Ink display kindles our e-book fantasies

Someday soon, we expect Google’s Android OS (like Microsoft’s ubiquitous WinCE platform) to power pretty much any consumer device available. Until then, we’re left to peer wistfully into the misfit laboratories of the hacking community to get our open-source kicks. The cats at the MOTO Development Group have written a custom driver to create what they claim is the first instance of Android running on an E-Ink display. Unfortunately, there’s plenty of that annoying white / black E-Ink flicker as the display refreshes. While that won’t be eliminated anytime soon, it’s certainly possible to minimize the effect through some future optimization — this is just a first step, after all. See it in action after the break.

Continue reading Video: Android-powered E-Ink display kindles our e-book fantasies

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Video: Android-powered E-Ink display kindles our e-book fantasies originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 02:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E-paper signs being tested in Tokyo for disaster prevention

While we’re still waiting for our electronic broadsheet (hell, we’ll settle for a tabloid) it looks like folks in Toshima will be seeing quite a bit of the e-paper as they hit the streets of this Tokyo ward. In a test conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the signage has been installed in the proximity of the Toshima Life and Industry Plaza, where a wireless network was established to provide updates in case of an emergency. There are currently two signs: one in the lobby of the post office measures over three meters across and sports 240 x 768 resolution (the paper has 4mm pixels), and holds down power consumption at about 24W. Stationed at the Higashi-Ikebukuro bus stop, the second sign is 60 x 40 centimeters with 144 x 96 resolution, and power consumption here is about 9W. The test will run until January 29th, after which point the city will have to rely upon its usual civil defense repertoire — which is believed to include the vigilant eye of Honda’s 49-foot ASIMO.

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E-paper signs being tested in Tokyo for disaster prevention originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 03:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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