Readius blog
The first pocket eReader
Readius blogWe have updated the FAQ and added information about Readius Software and Applications. Have a look at Readius FAQ.
Regards, Thomas
"Up to 30% of Dutch people will own an eReader within 5 years from now!" This bold conclusion was the outcome of research on eBooks and eReading recently presented by Dutch research institute TNO. This 30% translates to more than 5mln people owning a Readius or other eBook reader in the Netherlands alone. Extrapolate this further to the global eReading markets and we eventually end up with 1.5 billion eReaders.
There were a couple of conditions attached to this conclusion of course, such as the prices of eBook readers need to drop by 50% and sufficient Dutch content (eBooks and news) should become available. Looking at the significant price drops of any new consumer electronics product then a 50% price drop in 5 years is nothing spectacular. As for the content, indeed a lot of work still needs to be done, not just for eBooks in Dutch but for digital content around the world in general. Having said this, a lot of work is being done right now and new initiatives are popping up every day. Publishing books as eBooks complimentary to the paper version is becoming more and more popular. Newspaper and magazine publishers have discovered the internet years ago and are now shifting their focus to "mobile", realising the enormous potential of the mobile eReading market. Very soon inside our Content World section of readius.com you will find examples of eBooks, news and other digital and mobile initiatives optimised for Readius.
So is TNO's prediction correct? If you ask 100 experts in any industry what the market size will be of an emerging market in 5 years from now you will receive a 100 different answers.
However, no matter what the exact percentage will be, one thing is clear, eReading is a fast growing market and there is great potential for Readius and other eReaders in the market.
I am Edzer Huitema, CTO of Polymer Vision. As outlined by Karl earlier, we will answer questions raised by you about Readius. I started today with those that have to do with Readius and its user interface. You can find them in the new FAQ section.
In the web world of eBook readers there is an excellent online community called MobileRead. MobileRead recently created a forum dedicated to Readius which will help people to get to know Readius better through questions, and of course the subsequent answers.
We have taken the questions and categorized them into four groups, and over the coming few weeks we will address each of these groups in separate posts, while dealing with new questions along the way.
The first group has to do with Readius "Product and User Interface", where the questions raised are related to device hardware and the rollable display itself. This will be covered within the next day or so.
Please do not consider this 2nd posting in as many days as a sign of things to come. It is just that following the first one, the New York Times released an article which I want to share with you. The full article, written by Anne Eisenberg, can be found in the New York Times article "Electronic Papyrus: The Digital Book, Unfurled".
Since this article was published we have already received numerous requests as to why Readius will not be available in countries other than those mentioned. The answer is that we are working on the content and logistics sides to expand this to other European countries such as - but not only -France and The Netherlands.
Note that to receive automatic updates about the market launch please register at: http://www.readius.com/register.
We will keep you posted.
Karl
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,
