Hands-on with Polymer Vision's e-ink Readius

The long wait is over, the Polymer Vision Readius has finally made an appearance and from our quick -- and loving -- glance, it's the stuff. Featuring Bluetooth, dual-band HSDPA, tri-band GSM / EDGE, expandability via microSD, and it'll also SMS -- albeit, without a keyboard, it'll be tough -- and can make calls. The cellular calling and messaging features are likely an afterthought since connectivity to get at the content via the Readius portal was the goal. The site will push content to your device based on choices made there for feeds, newspapers, mags, audio books, and whatever else Polymer Vision sees fit to add. The device will support books in HTML, text files, and PDFs, though, we expect as they gain ground with partners the list may expand. Hit the gallery at Engadget Mobile for a pile of pics of it in action.

[sdh @ Feb 14th 2008 10:18AM]

I need e-TP for my bunghole!

[sam @ Feb 14th 2008 4:28PM]

Shut Up, Beavis. heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh

[OneLove @ Feb 14th 2008 10:41AM]

I wonder how long it will take for that screen to crease like some new shoes.

[superfresh @ Feb 14th 2008 10:59AM]

Apologies if I'm missing it: Price?

[Magnulus @ Feb 14th 2008 11:58AM]

I still say 320x240 is an insult.

[Tracy @ Feb 14th 2008 12:15PM]

These machines keep adding a bunch of crap that raises the price but doesn't improve it. They need to display in e-ink, have good battery life and be able to read many different formats. I can read better on a pdf sent by email on my iPhone than on a Sony 500, though not the 505. The problem is that it drains the battery quickly. I also need it to work with a Mac, others will want Linux. The absurd attempts to build an itunes for these devices is an incentive not to buy. They forget iTunes was useful BEFORE the iPod. Besides a reader that does not read eMail is useless. More time is spent reading eMail during the day than reading novels. Getting away from the desk to read it is worth money. If the Sony 505 or the Bookeen (anyone actually ever seen one ) worked on any machine and cost a little less it would take off.

[toyotaboy @ Feb 14th 2008 1:48PM]

why does it seem we always take a step back with new technology? B&W? I can't play doom on that.

[Jake @ May 12th 2008 3:00AM]

Black and White is not a step back... e ink is a different approach to a visual interface. Just like the first computer monitor was black and white, the first e-inks are black and white. Surely in the future they will figure out how to add color.

btw, good luck playing doom on a screen that refreshes only every 0.5 to 1.0 seconds.

And like paulan said, this is first generation. remember the 1st gen ipods? Give it 5 -7 years, and they will have a very good product... problem is that I don't want to wait that long.

[poulan @ Feb 14th 2008 6:16PM]

why are you all so miserable? this is a real innovation. it's 1G so give it a break. if this is a success then other manufacturers will get in on the act faster and you will be able to complain about their products with a folding screen. IMHO, 320 x 240 for text is more than adequate.