Welcome to the world of Readius.

The first pocket eReader
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Welcome to the world of Readius.

Sat, 07/05/2008 - 12:34 — Karl McGoldrick, CEO

My name is Karl McGoldrick, and I am the CEO of Polymer Vision - a passionately innovative team with one goal in life. That goal is to solve the problem of getting larger displays into pocket sized mobile devices. We believe that in this way we will create a whole new experience for consumers to enjoy existing and future forms of digital content while on the move.

Our exclusive rollable display technology is the core around which we build our plans, and in the Autumn of this year we will launch Readius, the first pocket eReader. Readius offers the advantages of eReaders as known today - but now all neatly wrapped into a pocket sized device.

Readius is very much a data centered mobile product, designed around eBooks, eNews, RSS feeds, and receiving email messages. It is optimised for mobility by allowing instant access to hundreds of books from your pocket, while the integrated 3.5G data connection ensures high speed downloads of pre-ordered content and instant news updates on the go.

Complimentary to Readius is www.readius.com, the portal through which users will personally select and manage their content. Some content is free while other content is available on subscription or for 'one off' purchases.

Polymer Vision is an open company, so through this blog I invite you to share your thoughts and ideas about Readius and readius.com. My commitment is to respond. If not personally, I will bring in the key people from Polymer Vision to do so.

Once again, welcome on board and I am looking forward to the discussions.

With best regards, Met vriendelijke groeten, Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Meilleures salutations, Distinti saluti, Saludos cordiales,

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Comments

Wed, 08/27/2008 - 22:34 — btjeppesen

Typing

I think I know the answer to this, but figured it doesn't hurt to ask. Is there a way to type on the Readius? On the Kindle, it is easy to search and purchase books straight from the device. If the Readius had typing abilities, it could be used in the same way, and could also be used to reply to emails using the email feature. With so few buttons, it doesn't seem likely, but can you please verify? Thank you very much. Regardless, this looks like a great product.

Thu, 08/28/2008 - 09:57 — Thomas van der Zijden

Typing

Hi there,
Being an eReader, Readius first of all is an information consumption device. However short text input can be done via the on-screen keyboard in combination with the 5 touch buttons on the product or via the PC application (for example for initial configuration of applications). Contact information and agenda on a PC can also be synchronised with Readius, offering a convenient alternative way for direct text input on the device itself.
Regards, Thomas

Wed, 08/13/2008 - 21:51 — Cathy Healy

Readius and Amazon

Your device is intriguing. I'm in the US, and can't wait to see one in person.

Will Readius owners be able to download Amazon books that are designed for Kindle? Given that Amazon has 150,000 e-books now, they seem to have cornered the market. Or, are they working with other devices as well as their own? (Given that you all use e-Ink.)

Also, thanks for this blog. Very forward-thinking.

Cathy

Fri, 08/22/2008 - 14:57 — Karl McGoldrick

Re: Readius and Amazon

Dear Cathy,

The Kindle eBooks that Amazon publishes can be read on the Kindle only and is software protected, so no option to download the files to ie. a Readius or Sony. The business model for Amazon appears to be to sell books, Kindle is an additional tool to stimulate book sales.
The model that Polymer Vision has created around Readius is completely different. It has always been our intention to create an open platform with minimum restrictions such that users can select and read content from various sources.

Regards, Karl

Tue, 08/05/2008 - 06:55 — jeremyjc

3G Provider? And very EXCITED!!!!!

I have a Sony first gen reader (500) and haven't upgraded because I haven't liked the look and size of Amazons or the lack of connectivity with Sony's 2nd gen. This device looks extremely promising for both size/design and connectivity.

I have searched around and haven't seen any details on the 3G support in the US launch (2009?). Amazon works its 3g access costs into its book price. Since you seem to have much more open features like RSS, email, etc the amazon approach doesn't seem likely.

So will the device be linked to a certain network like the IPhone, and if not is it limited to GSM or will CDMA work?

Looks awesome
-Jeremy

Fri, 08/22/2008 - 14:56 — Karl McGoldrick

3G Provider?

Dear Jeremy,

Readius will support GSM technology since it offers the widest coverage in the world and is fast growing in the USA as well. Regardless of commercial deals with Mobile Network Operators, Readius can be used in any GSM network. If you are interested to be updated about the Readius market launch then please register at: http://www.readius.com/register

Regards Karl

Wed, 07/16/2008 - 22:56 — Harm

WiFi

Hi Karl, First of all, my compliments for this inovating product! Obvious the future is (almost) here. One thing that suprises me though is that I can't find any WiFi support on the device. Is this in development for the 2nd generation? Yours, Harm Visser
Thu, 07/17/2008 - 09:19 — Karl McGoldrick

Readius and WiFi

hi Harm,

thank you for the compliment.

Readius is designed to be the most mobile friendly solution of any eReader type product. So outside of having a large paper-like reading display and long battery life, two other key factors are small form factor (pocket sized) and connectivity. We have addressed the former by pioneering rollable display technology. For the latter, we want Readius owners to have mobile connectivity always and everywhere, and not just if you happen to be in a particular coffee shop. So we indeed chose for a high speed 3.5G cellular solution as opposed to WiFi.  

regards, Karl

Sun, 07/06/2008 - 15:27 — Toby

UK

Thanks Karl. The new Readius website is a significant improvement over the Polymervision site.

It is exiting that the Readius will be coming to Europe this autumn. In the UK I would hope it will have a successful niche market. Clearly price will be an important factor in its success. As will marketing given ebook readers are few and far between here, whilst smart phones are aplenty. A real opportunity to take advantage of both these factors.

You will I hope keep us informed on dates and pricing, when you're able to.

And do PM me if you or your team are coming to London!
Mon, 07/07/2008 - 11:50 — Karl McGoldrick

Re: UK

Toby, yes, these will be communicated in plenty of time using - amongst other paths - this blog. Also note that you can personally receive updates about the market launch by registering at: http://www.readius.com/register. best regards, Karl

Tue, 07/08/2008 - 20:02 — Toby

Re: UK

Good to hear, thanks for your reply Karl. All the best from London, Toby
Sun, 07/06/2008 - 10:35 — ortega y gasset

Languages and Dictionaries

One weakness of Kindle and some other readers is the limited choice of content in languages other than English and the lack of choices for dictionaries for one-touch lookup from an ebook page. It is not enough to have some languages and dictionaries available. Many languages and dictionaries should be available. What are your plans? Personally I'm most interested in content in French, Spanish, German, Hebrew, and Mandarin. Will you have the top dictionaries like Le Robert, Duden, Brockhaus, Real Acadamia Espanola, and so on?
Tue, 07/22/2008 - 17:42 — Dmitry

dictionaries

Hi, I'm Dmitry. I do believe that the embedded dictionaries could become the great improvement for the product. These will not be available immediately at the product launch, but the possibility to develop ones by 3d party SW vendors (or port existing) is still there. And, of course, we will seriously consider this matter for the next generations of the product. From the user interaction perspective, that would also be great if user would be able to highlight (select) a certain word on the screen and start dictionary against one. The most interesting question there is how to select the word without touch screen, and with the limited number of buttons. Your ideas regarding user interface and interaction are more than appreciated!
Tue, 07/08/2008 - 22:37 — Readius

Languages

Hi, this is Thomas van der Zijden. Indeed we consider language support a very important aspect for Readius. Readius will support 5 languages in its menus at market launch being: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian. For content we work with partners and on formats that will allow us to display a wide variety of content on Readius, not just in english but in different languages. We will make announcements about the content closer to market launch.

Sun, 07/06/2008 - 02:21 — val314159

This sounds way cool

When can I get my hands on one?
Mon, 07/07/2008 - 10:11 — Thomas van der Zijden

Availability of Readius

Hello, this is Thomas van der Zijden, VP Marketing and Sales. Readius will be launched in Autumn 2008. To receive further updates about the market launch, please register at: http://www.readius.com/register.