First e-Paper To Launch April 2006

The world’s first ‘electronic newspaper’ will go on sale next year, with Belgian daily De Tijd announcing distribution on the Iliad platform from April 2006.

The new technology allows readers to use a mobile tablet-form reading device to download content via a Wi-Fi connection or flash memory cards. The device’s 8.1 inch display allows 16 grey levels, and claims excellent visibility both indoors and outdoors, as well as 14 days of battery life.

The trial technology is described as the first “complete solution for portable electronic reading,” and brings the industry a step closer to fully electronic e-papers, often touted as the holy grail for newspaper production (see MQT Panel Questions Future In Print).

Speaking at MediaTel Group’s recent Media Question Time, Adam Singer, chief executive of the MCPS-PRS Alliance, explained: “There’s one crucial piece of technology that we’re missing, that’s the replacement for paper – flexible screens which do not make readers bleary eyed. Over the next ten years these will begin to arrive, and will be able to plug into the net and pull everything down. The second they arrive and the second the cost goes down my advice is to sell your print stocks.”

The device used by De Tijd in its trial is manufactured by Dutch firm iRex Technologies BV, a spin-off from Royal Philips Electronics, which has previously been involved in the development of commercially available e-ink solutions, working with Sony to produce a similar tablet-form electronic book reader.

The new electronic reader will always offer users up-to-date information, with distribution to business partners possible from early next year.

De Tijd: de.tijd.be iRex Technologies: www.irextechnologies.com