Sony’s been offering devices with E Ink displays for just about as long as anybody. But most of the company’s efforts have been funneled into the Sony Reader line of consumer-oriented eReaders with 6 inch displays and a focus on reading.
Now Sony is going after the education and business markets with a larger E Ink device aimed at reading and writing. The Sony Digital Paper is a 13.3 inch flexible E Ink prototype with a touchscreen and support for stylus input.
Right now Digital Paper is still in the prototype stage, but later this year Sony plans to launch trials of the device at 3 universities in Japan. The idea is to replace the need for paper with a digital medium that makes it easy to save, search, and share notes, among other things.
The Digital Paper prototype has a 1600 x 1200 pixel flexible E Ink screen, an optical touch panel and digital pen. You can create your own notes, highlight passages in a PDF file, or scribble notes in the margins.
The device features 4GB of built-in storage, a microSD card slot, and a battery that should last for up to 3 weeks. There’s also built-in WiFi. It weighs less than 14 ounces and measures about 0.27 inches thick.
via The Verge and The Digital Reader
Please… PLEASE have SOMEONE make this product. And have it actually more than vaporware!
This thing needs to come out tomorrow. I have been dreaming of this product for two DECADES! And to learn that they may just start TRIALS later this year, just puts too much strain on my patience. I just hope it will ultimately export in a format other than PDF. Vector or even GIF would be great!
Have been waiting for such a product in years. Hopefully it will available soon.
Nice! I would use one mostly to read pdf articles though. And take notes on those articles (underline and what not). I think others will play catch up with Sony on this. What we really need now is a universal standard for bluetooth drag and drop between different handheld devices.
Finally!
In combination with an OCR, even a remote one, this will be great for taking notes at school or in a meeting and get them back on the computer/tablet later on. The only drawback: will people put a tablet plus this device into their bags?
For the rest of the world, 14 ounces are about 400 grams and 0.27 inches are about 7 mm.