Telecom Italia’s upcoming cell phone for bookworms

Remember the movie “Red Planet”, where Val Kilmer’s character unrolled a digital map that felt and looked like paper? And how would you feel if we told you this tech might just be going mainstream by this year…on your mobile?

Italian-based cell phone manufacturer Telecom Italia has recently announced that it will be working alongside Polymer Vision to create a cellular phone that, quite literally, reads like an open book. See the image for what we mean.

The Cellular-Book will feature a reflective light paper display by Polymer Vision. It spans 5 inches wide when fully extended, and displays 16 grey levels on high contrast. These settings leave the panel feeling and reading like real paper – perfect for consumers who prefer an “organic” feel in their next downloaded novel. Of course, it still has its problems – the film doesn’t have a backlight, but is at least readable even in bright lights.

Newspapers and other similar ebooks can be downloaded via the phone’s SIM card, and is then stored in the phone’s massive 4 GB – yes, four gigabytes – internal memory. And of course, the phone will be decked out with features like music play, audio books, e-mail, and personalized data. Further details are to be expected when the phone makes its debut this February 12 at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona (booth in Hall 2, D 06). Now that we have a phone for the book dudes, what’s the news on cells for gamers?

Remember the movie “Red Planet”, where Val Kilmer’s character unrolled a digital map that felt and looked like paper? And how would you feel if we told you this tech might just be going mainstream by this year…on your mobile?

Italian-based cell phone manufacturer Telecom Italia has recently announced that it will be working alongside Polymer Vision to create a cellular phone that, quite literally, reads like an open book. See the image for what we mean.

The Cellular-Book will feature a reflective light paper display by Polymer Vision. It spans 5 inches wide when fully extended, and displays 16 grey levels on high contrast. These settings leave the panel feeling and reading like real paper – perfect for consumers who prefer an “organic” feel in their next downloaded novel. Of course, it still has its problems – the film doesn’t have a backlight, but is at least readable even in bright lights.

Newspapers and other similar ebooks can be downloaded via the phone’s SIM card, and is then stored in the phone’s massive 4 GB – yes, four gigabytes – internal memory. And of course, the phone will be decked out with features like music play, audio books, e-mail, and personalized data. Further details are to be expected when the phone makes its debut this February 12 at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona (booth in Hall 2, D 06). Now that we have a phone for the book dudes, what’s the news on cells for gamers?