Major newspapers experimenting with e-paper

As predictions of the end of the printed word run rampant, it seems that a few major dailies have been investigating into future possibilities of distributing their news. Having already been displayed at March's electronic expo in Tokyo, e-paper (electronic paper) is the latest technology of interest for newspapers, according to the French technology Website EETimes. The Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun joined with the tech firm E Ink to create an electronic screen 240 by 240 centimeters designed to diffuse the paper's news. And Nicholas Sheridon, researcher at Xerox which has invented one of the three principle methods of placing an image on electronic paper, confirmed that "(The New York Times and Chicago Tribune) are looking into something about 45 to 50 centimeters long, with the possibility of download from a satellite, cellular phone, or a decoder." E-paper allows users to download various texts, from books to your daily newspaper, onto a portable, rechargeable and flexible electronic screen which diffuses images at approximately the same resolution as reading a newspaper. Russell Wilcox, president and co-founder of E Ink, said that e-paper will soon be released to the American consumer. "In my humble opinion, this technology will witness exponential growth." Newspapers may want to learn how to converge their content with this new technology for the sake of their survival. For some more information on e-paper, check out these former postings here and here.

Source: EETimes (in French)