Stories about: SiPix

Taiwanese e-reader makers jockeyed to show off new technologies at the Taipei International Book Exhibition over the weekend and said the emerging model for the devices is to sell them as part of a content bundle.

The new nReader by BenQ launched in Taipei on Wednesday as part of the Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE) 2010, and the company is already planning note-taking capabilities for its next generation model due out in April.

BenQ put its nReader on display at Taiwan's IT Month exhibition in Taipei and representatives say it will roll out in Taiwan and China this January for NT$8,990 (US$280).

Over the next 10 years, thin-film polymers and other flexible substrates could change how people think about and use displays. In the future, you may "print out" reports to sheets of e-paper: flexible polymer displays about as thick as a sheet of paper that can be spread out on a desk for easy comparison and analysis and then reused when the work is done. Your PDA or cell phone may incorporate a roll-up display that extends to let you view maps or Web pages on a larger screen. Your laptop may have a secondary display on the back of the case that can maintain any image you choose, such as your schedule and to-do list -- and you'll be able to refer to it even when the laptop is turned off. Some displays may be embedded on a shirt sleeve or curve around a watchband.

An alternative to the Palm OS (operating system) that already has attracted thousands of third-party application developers in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan is set to debut in July in the English-speaking world in a PDA (personal digital assistant) platform made by a Taiwan-based company and its vendor partners.