Ever since the birth of the internet and the discovery of Google^®, the trip to the library seems ever too taxing if not out of the way in our extremely hectic lives. Despite the wealth of knowledge and plethora of books, we find the information from Wikipedia able to suffice our curiosity. Well, enough of making such hard choices, it’s time we take the best of both worlds and merge it together: introducing the Readius^®!

As the New York Times commented in a recent article, people these days like to read emails and articles on a large screen with ease, but at the same time, want these devices to fit in the palm of their hands. As the iPhone^® has accomplished this feat through touch features that increase the font size of letters, the Readius^® unfolds into a 5 inch screen that can accommodate about 22 lines of text!

Though primarily used to store books, texts, and other old-fashioned forms of information in its 8 GB memory, this intriguing device is naturally equipped with 3.5G HSPDA Tri band that allows for global wireless connectivity. Between downloading articles from HowStuffWorks.com and importing eTexts through its USB port, this little tech-toy allows up to thirty hours of usage before having to charge it. That’s plenty of time to catch up with a little light reading!

Equipped with a powerful processing engine for high speeds, this machine is already ahead of the game with little known competition in the market. Ultra light, weighing no more than 115 grams, this eReader is also built with Blue Tooth capabilities along with a headphone port for mp3 and other audio formats. The classic evening is thus all encased in this gadget- a quiet night next to the fireplace with a book to read and light music in the background.

But while this form of perfection seems somewhat good for the archetypal reader lets mention the state of the art technology that backs this device. The most unique feature is its ability to flex and roll- it can actually wrap around a finger! Unlike past flexible screens acting on a low resolution viewing, the Readius^® operates via a high resolution screen produced by a technology termed ‘active matrix’. The active matrix consists of, as the same NYT article explains, “transistors behind each pixel that can potentially provide fast switching and high performance”. This same high performance allows for 16 grayscale shades to accommodate for high picture quality; though while our world is in color, a prototype will be constructed that will adjust for websites and books in color, coming this May. These screens are just as clear as an LCD or plasma screen and yet are more durable than the typical Blackberry^® screen, having been tested with hammers.

The product is still not out in the market, but will be released to England, Italy and Germany this coming fall and to the United States next year. The projected price is a ballpark figure of $359 which rivals of course, the price of the iPhone^® and the Blackberry^®. The novel technology of flexible screens is a step toward a new technology market hoping to make companies like iSuppli Corporations, makers of these screens, a projected 2.8 billion dollars in the coming years.

While we still have some time until the Readius^® becomes a reality, we can still appreciate the circuitry involved to create high speeds in turning pages of eTexts and switching between book and music. The ability to still have Google^® at your fingertips, of course, will be an asset that cannot be ignored. The deathly combination of internet and a library all in one place and all mobile makes it the ideal device for the well read person always on the go!

For more information please visit www.readius.com and the New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/technology/06novelties.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin