next year.
(Click here for a larger view of the Plastic Logic Reader)The Detroit Media Partnership, which manages the business operations of the
Detroit Free Press and the
Detroit News, announced last year that they would end home delivery of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday editions, and
put the move into effect this Monday. The newspapers are now offering downloadable editions in .PDF format, and say that later this year, they'll start offering digital versions via Amazon's Linux-based
Kindle.
This week, the publisher said it will also offer subscribers the opportunity to purchase or lease a larger e-reader, the forthcoming Plastic Logic Reader pictured at the top of our story. Like the Kindle, the Plastic Logic device uses an
electrophorescent monochrome display sourced from
E Ink Corporation. Electronic paper offers a bright, high-contrast, thin, lightweight display technology that remains legible under "any lighting condition" -- much like newsprint. Once an image has been "printed," no power is needed to hold it, reducing energy requirements by 99 percent compared to LCDs, E Ink claims.
E Ink's electronic paper requires no power to hold images
Source: E Ink Corporation
Unlike the Kindle and a variety of existing
Windows-based e-readers, the Plastic Logic Reader has an 8.5 x 11 inch form factor. Few other details of the hardware have been announced, but the device is less than 0.27 inches thick, weighs under 16 ounces, and has a battery life "measured in days," according to Plastic Logic. The e-reader has a touchscreen display, customized user interface with a Windows CE core operating system, and can read documents in PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX, text, RTF, HTML, JPEG, PNG, BMP, ePub, and eReader formats, the company says.
Detroit Free Press CEO David Hunke holds the Plastic Logic Reader
Source: Detroit Free Press
Detroit Free Press CEO David Hunke, pictured above, said at the announcement of the partnership, "We look to innovative new digital products like the Plastic Logic Reader to help us usher in a new era in publishing, by helping us provide our readers all the benefits of digital content while retaining the familiar easy-to-read, paper-like format many readers continue to value."
AvailabilityAccording to Plastic Logic and the Detroit Media Partnership, the Plastic Logic Reader will undergo testing later this year, in preparation for general availability via purchase or lease in 2010. Pricing was not announced.
Further information on the Plastic Logic Reader may be found on the company's web site,
here.
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