Amazon Kindle rival is paper-thin e-reader

The unnamed e-reader from Cambridge University Cavendish Laboratory spinoff Plastic Logic Ltd. -- sporting the world's first flexible electronic screen -- is 1/4 inch thick and will be released in the United States in early 2010, said the company, whose U.S. office is in Mountain View, Calif.

It will be competitively priced with the Kindle, which starts at $299, the company said.

A British launch is set for late 2010 or early 2011.

The device -- whose "intelligent plastic" display took than $203 million and a decade to develop -- is the first screen made from a plastic microchip rather than silicon, says Plastic Logic, which specializes in polymer transistors and electronics.

The 8 1/2-by-11-inch touch-screen reader can be charged once every two weeks and its screen uses no power when the image isn't changing, the company says.

E-versions of newspapers are expected to be popular with the new technology because news can be downloaded at any time in return for a subscription equivalent to the price of buying a printed copy, The Times of London said.

"The advantage of this new device is that it won't break when I drop it, but getting advertisers involved will be key, and they want to see a color version," said Financial Times Chief Executive Officer John Ridding, whose company is working with Plastic Logic.

The e-reader, with wireless and wired capability, is currently black and white and text only.

"Color is a year or two off, and video will be a few years ... later" as the technology develops," Plastic Logic technology Vice President Martin Jackson told the Times.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.