Recently in Hardware Category

Digital Paper: Closer than You Think

Wired has posted an article, "Flexible Displays Closer to Reality", that reports on how quickly the technology for thin flexible (paper-like) digital displays is progressing, possibly available as soon as 2010! The surprise news to me is that this speed-to-market is thanks in large part to the U.S. Army and the nearly $44 million they've invested in the technology since 2004. U.S. troops will be the first to get their hands on it, but the goal is to make flexible displays commercially available.
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Two BBC Video Shorts on the 'Paperless Paper'

The BBC has posted a short video interview with Dean Baker, manager at Plastic Logic. They're the maker of a super-thin electronic reader due out early next year. The video gives you a good sense of how the (still unnamed) product will look and operate.
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"New E-Newspaper Reader Echoes Look of the Paper"

There is a notable piece in the NYtimes today about a new electronic newspaper reader from Plastic Logic due out next year. It seems to be similar in many ways to the Kindle, but larger in size and looks to have the ability to display layouts.

While I don't own a Kindle, I was blown away recently when I sat next to a subway rider using one. The legibility was so good I could even read over his shoulder.

From the article ...

... "Even though we have positioned this for business documents, newspapers is what everyone asks for," Mr. Archuleta said.

The reader will go on sale in the first half of next year. Plastic Logic will not announce which news organization will display its articles on it until the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, when it will also reveal the price.

Read the full NYtimes article for more.

Bookmark SPD.org on your iPhone

It's time to bookmark SPD.org on your iPhone and iPod Touch! We've now got more than thirty magazine professionals signed on to blog for the Society, so you'll want to check back to SPD.org several times a day for the latest in magazine publishing news. To that end, we've designed this site (and this blog, Grids) to display nicely on your iPhone/Touch, so go ahead and press the "+" sign while you're on this site on your phone and you'll immediately see the brand-new SPD logo adorning your home screen.