Funny thing going on in the marketplace right now: reading for pleasure is on a rapid decline yet the choice of
e-reader devices grows weekly. That's good news for those of us not spending our down-time in front of a television, mouth agape -- awkward for manufacturers testing the waters of this unproven niche. LG's showing off its Solar Cell e-Book reader anyway, in a bid to flex its thin-film solar muscle. The prototype features an energy conversion efficiency of about 9.6 percent giving it an extra day's worth of power for that 6-inch TFT-LCD after about four to five hours in the sun. LG is working towards boosting its thin-film solar cell energy conversion efficiency rate to 12% by 2010 on up to 14% by 2012. We say bring it LG, if you can.
[Via
OLED-Display]
posted Oct 12th 2009 4:54AM
That's just a Sony Reader with an LG solar cell attached. No, that really IS a Sony Reader. Either that or LG has done a KIRF.
wow! finally a gadget that asks you to GO OUT and READ a book ;)
If you look at the larger version even the text below the screen is the same: Portable Reader System PRS-505. It is, however, missing the SONY logo above the screen.
http://www.lgdisplay.com/adminContain/files/(%EC%82%AC%EC%A7%84)%20Solar%20EBook%2021.jpg
Remember that this from LG Displays, not LG Electronics. Two different (subsidiary) companies.
The only reason they got rid of the Sony brand from the e-reader (LG Displays makes the e-ink displays for Sony) is because it would be kinda sad for a LG Group subsidiary to openly display a competitor's brand.
What clever 1st comment can I post at 4 AM?
My brain is screaming, AhhhGrhh, Stupid Midterm
2nd :-b
The model is much prettier than the e-reader, IMO.
Pretty she may be, but she's no good at her job. She looks totally unconvinced of the product's greatness. (Not that I am.)
Where are you getting TFT-LCD? The actual reader part is a hacked Sony Reader which is e-ink. The press release doesn't mention what screen technology the reader prototype uses so it's safe to assume it's unchanged.
Oh yay, now its in solar, that way if i get stuck on a island, i can read my collection of books while i wait for help
Maybe that'll help you ignore the intense pain as you die of starvation.
Enjoy your Twilight, I'm going hunting.
1+ ;)))
lol
Stop making this dumb enhancements & start focusing on getting a color e-reader in place !
And they have the "Leaving your device in the sun for extended periods of time will damage your device and void the warranty" statment in fine print...naturally in E-ink
Does anyone know how sun affects the e-ink display itself? Will reading it in the sun for hours cause any damage to the screen? That would be my concern, but I don't know enough about those screens to know for sure.
Heat is the enemy of all electronics. Almost without exception electronic devices work better and better the colder it gets. Near absolute zero conductors become super conductors and lose virtually all resistance to electricity passing through them (which is a good thing). So no, leaving your e-reader to bake in the sun for hours on end will definitely shorten the life of the device. Notice I didn't say 'might' shorten the life. It will DEFINITELY shorten the life of the device and it is doubtful that it would last very long at all in direct sunlight.
Nice! What is the resolution of the screen? ;-)
That's great! Finally, a practical use for solar energy in gadgets.
color e-ink would defeat the prupose.
the most attractive feature of e-ink is autonomy which can be measured in weeks.
i've read reviews by kindle users which mentioned not recharging their device for 3 weeks or 1 month. color e-ink would only go in the opposite direction. Might as well use a netbook.
For devices with such great auonomy, a solar panel is an exellent idea. what i don't understand is how a 6 hour solar charge will only get you only an extra day's usage.
This is what i believe would be the ideal e-reader:
-place controls on the side (wheels, buttons, etc) in order to maximize screen size and make this as close as possible to the device's length X width.
-no wifi, touchscreen etc
-maximum compatibilty with pdf and other formats
-microSD etc slots
-solar panel as above
.. and Bob is your Uncle! now how much can such a thing cost??
Yes, the battery life in my Sony ereader lasts weeks and weeks. Battery is good for thousands of page turns, and the average novel is 300-500 pages.
Measuring the additional battery life in hours is pretty silly because the batteries (rightly or wrongly) are measured in page turns. If it's an extra day with several hours reading, then that's pretty good. If it takes 4-5 hours of charge, I have a feeling you're not getting 4-5 hours of reading otherwise the battery would never deplete!
Also, even if we get colour e-ink TODAY, page refresh is still terribly, so it's not going to be massively more useful, in my mind.
The solar panel should really go on the outside of the cover holding the device.
I will consider e-book when they'll have 2 "pages" (so double screen) and when I can flip the pages with a swipe of my index finger on the touch screen
what good will be the "TWO PAGES" when you'll be reading one page at a time?
@mex,
Wait for the Sony Daily Edition Reader (PRS-900) when in landscape mode, it will show 2 pages,
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665981151
you read one page at a time, but it's natural to me think to have two pages, I don't know, it's like a book it's supposed to be... call it "stereo reading" :)
She looks at you with disapproval, saddened by your Asian porn collection.
Who says you need to stay out for five hours? It just means that whenever you're outside in the sun, it can charge a lot faster than you can use up the battery.
I leave my solar rechargeable E Reader out in the sun to recharge for five hours, it is not there when I come back. I sit outside for five hours reading or watching my E reader so it is not stolen & get sunburned. The only situation where solar recharging is helpful might be hiking the Appalachian trail or living in the woods.
Or reading next to a sunny window...
How many people actually read books in direct sunlight? Pretty much no one does who actually cares about their eyes or skin or the distracting brightness of the sun reflecting off of all surfaces in the vicinity. I'm with Robert, this isn't practical for most people.
The write-up seems to make the assumption that a business can only turn profitable if it has nearly 100% purchase rate.
Even with falling readership numbers in general, those numbers could be still many, many, many (etc) times what is necessary to support a substantial market for these devices.
That is aside from arguments that statistics on "readership" could be influenced by increases in mobile life styles which say the rejection is more about traditional consumption avenues rather than "reading" per se.
As an example - I bet engadgets readership has gone upward in recent years.
Yes.... that's right..... "readership".
Korean girl...Yum!
Solar cell...Bleh.
what I want to know is does SHE go an extra day for every 5 hours of sunlight?