Designers have been all about the e-paper designs lately, and a major electronics company even unveiled a working prototype in early 2010. But so far, the designs haven’t centered on trying to maintain a familiar form. That’s where this concept from student designers Manny Darden, Jae Kim and Scott Liao differs from the others: it’s meant to call to mind the traditional look and feel of a newspaper. Its four-column layout does indeed look like one of those old-fashioned newspaper contraptions, but with some notable improvements: it’s weatherproof, the content is user-controlled, and it’s much thinner than a newspaper but with more information.

THE PAGE_Adaptive Delivery Device from Scott Liao on Vimeo.

The Page is an adaptive delivery device that makes carrying around large amounts of information much less cumbersome. The designers realized that there is something about newspapers that is intrinsically appealing to many people, something that can’t easily be replicated by electronic readers. They sought to keep that tactile appeal while adding to the possibilities and capabilities of the reader.

The reader’s layout looks like that of a traditional newspaper, but a few simple touches let the user control what content is seen on the page. Unlike most other e-reader concepts, The Page is foldable. This characteristic makes it simple to carry around in a pocket or bag, while its ability to store and display huge quantities of information makes it utterly convenient. There’s no information on how the team expects to fit the necessary memory and wi-fi abilities into a paper-thin device, but those are details – there’s plenty of time to work them out before this concept becomes a reality.

The post Paging the Future: Paper-Thin Next-Generation Newspaper first appeared on Gajitz.

Taking the newspaper along with you used to be considered a pretty convenient way to keep up with current events when you’re on the go. But with smartphones, laptops and a whole world of portable devices to put the news at your fingertips no matter where you are, newspapers seem fiddly and overly complicated. Various companies have been developing e-paper technology for years now, but LG actually unveiled theirs in January of 2010. The flexible 19-inch display is mounted on a flexible foil substrate rather than glass, so it’s just as portable as tablet computers but bendy enough to be rolled up.

Could this mean the death of the newspaper? On the contrary, this seems like a great way for newspapers to keep up with the digital age; they could charge for subscriptions just as they do with the hard-copy newspaper, but distributing in a digital format would save countless amounts of money for them. It would also cut down on paper consumption, wastewater and carbon emissions.

But will people ever really be comfortable carrying around a newspaper substitute? It worked in Minority Report. In fact, if the e-paper newspapers of the future featured dynamic headlines that updated via wi-fi with every passing minute, the troubled newspaper industry may just be able to work their way back into the daily lives of millions of people.

The post Extra Extra! Electronic Paper Heralds New Newspaper Era first appeared on Gajitz.