Sony Reader ® to replace the paperback book ?

More than 100 patents including chemistry, electronics and manufacturing processes are involved in the design and production of Sony's stunning and revolutionary lightweight (9 ounces 1/2" thin) Sony ® Reader.US based E Ink Corporation supplies electronic ink to their Japanese manufacturing partner Toppan Printing, who in turn processes the ink into a thin film called frontplane laminate. Dutch electronics company Philips integrates E Ink's frontplane laminate with an active matrix backplane and adds the driving electronics component. Philips works with Sony to co-develop and customize display solutions for innovative mobile devices and have helped with the reader.

The high-resolution electronic paper display technology, provides a realistic print image (8:1 contrast ratio) to rival familiar traditional paper / ink processes. The monochrome text and graphics (colour technology is available for other uses of the technology) is readable from a variety of viewing angles (total 170 degrees) , even outdoors in bright sunlight. It is claimed that this results in less viewer fatigue experienced with long term reading on an LCD dispay. The technology renders each page as a static image, which requires no energy to be sustained so one internal re-chargeable battery will provide 7.500 page turns, although use of the Audio feature to play MP3 and AAC files (headphones required) will shorten battery usage times.

Internal memory will hold 80 books, and this can be extended with Sony Memory Sticks and SD Flash Memory. Thousands of books are downloadable with CONNECT ebooks.

Available only in the US from October 1st (was due in spring but now available for Thanksgiving and Christmas) the Sony Reader will cost around $350 (about £185), including a USB cable to load books and a power adapter to charge the internal battery. NOT available on E-Bay yet !

10,000 titles are available from their ebooks store Connect ranging from a few dollars to the low teens.

Founded in 1997 based on research started at the MIT Media Lab, ( Company offices - 733 Concord Avenue, Cambridge, MA) E Ink has raised over $120 million, largely from strategic investors. Of note, E Ink anchored its third round of financing in February 2001, with a major investment from Philips Components, as part of a joint development for the use of electronic ink in handheld device displays. In February 2002, TOPPAN Printing Co., Ltd. became E Ink's largest investor in connection with a significant expansion to their strategic partnership to commercialize electronic paper. The investors of E Ink include leading technology companies, publishers and venture capitalists: More details here


* Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE: APD)
* Applied Technology Ventures
* Atlas Venture
* CNI Ventures, a division of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI)
* Degussa AG, owners of Creavis Technologies and Innovation
* FA Technology Ventures
* Gruppo Espresso (Italy)
* The Hearst Corporation
* Intel Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC)
* The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI)
* Motorola Corporation (NYSE: MOT)
* New Venture Partners LLC
* Oriel General Trading Company
* Philips Components, a division of Royal Philips Electronics (AEX: PHI; NYSE: PHG)
* Solstice Capital
* Special Situations Fund
* TOPPAN Printing Company, Ltd. (Japan)
* Vivendi Universal Publishing (France)

E Ink is a privately held company and not currently traded under any exchanges. E Ink is not accepting any private investment . Fancy working for them ? Lots of jobs - apply here