As you may remember, our February newsletter issue was dedicated to e-book readers and included an interview with the Senior PR person for the Kindle. So, when we can across the Readius, we just had to get more information about the product.

Its scroll design intrigued us, so we got in touch with Thomas van der Zijden and asked him a few questions about the Readius.

How did you come up with the Romanesque features and do you feel that the familiar design will help the adoption of the Readius?

T: It is more the purpose behind the design that will help the adoption of Readius. Polymer Vision always wanted to create a large display in a small pocket-sized device. It is the breakthrough innovation the mobile consumer has been waiting for. With the chosen design of Readius Polymer Vision succeeded in creating a robust product that has a display larger than the device itself.

How would you explain your device to a person who knows nothing about it?

T: Readius is the first pocket eReader, exploiting the versatility of rollable displays to merge the 'reading friendly' strengths of conventional eReaders with pocket size form factor and worldwide connectivity of mobile products.

What advantage does the Readius have over similar products and how do you feel it will fare as it is priced higher than most readers?

T: With Readius Polymer Vision has created a completely new product segment merging eReader into a mobile device.

Compared to existing eReaders Readius has 2 key differentiators: it is pocket sized and has world wide wireless connectivity. Compared to mobile products (PDA/smartphone) it has superior reading qualities and a very large screen without sacrificing the small size of the device.

These strengths make Readius the ideal information companion for mobile people, unparalleled by any other product. On top of that Readius is truly unique: it is the first ever product with a rollable display.

In terms of pricing compare it to a Mercedes. Is a Mercedes expensive? A Mercedes buyer will say no because he/she receives a lot of value for the price while the owner of a Ford may find it an expensive car.

Same applies to Readius; it is unique and has high value for frequently traveling / commuting business people.

Is there any special meaning behind the name? Why Readius?

T: it is a combination of reading and radius (curvature of the rollable display)

One major problem with the integration of the Kindle Reader was the fact that PDF files (the industry standard for e-book files) were not readable. Will we be able to download them to the Readius?

T: Readius does support PDF but the key problem with PDF files is that they are inflexible and do not re-flow to the size of the mobile display. Therefore PDF is not suitable as a file standard for the mobile market.

How is the Readius going to change the publishing industry?

T: Readius basically opens up the door towards the mobile market for the publishing industry. For the first time text based digital content can be conveniently consumed and updated while on the move. This opens up a multi-billion dollar potential for the publishing industry.

In a recent NY Times article, it was stated that a color prototype was shown at a trade show, and the Readius was also compared to a Blackberry. Do you feel that you could adapt the product to enter into new markets such as telecommunications?

T: Readius is the beginning of an exciting journey for Polymer Vision and the media and mobile industry. Polymer Vision is not an eReader company but The Rollable Display Company and it is Polymer Vision's ambition to create a world with rollable displays in all mobile devices. There is no doubt that any consumer around the world would like to have a pocket sized mobile phone with a 7 or 8" rollable display with full colour video capabilities. As proven by the color prototype we are working hard to realise our ambitions.

Anything else you would like to add?

Have a look at our website: www.readius.com

We would like to extend a special thanks to Thomas for taking the time out of busy schedule to chat with us about the Readius. It will be brought to market in Europe later this year, and available in the U.S. in early 2009.