France: Les Echos launches subscription e-paper

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on May 11, 2007 at 2:50 PM

After much talk about the emergence of e-paper on a commercial scale, business paper Les Echos has finally launched its e-paper subscription service. According to the Ecosphere blog, the results are both attractive and practical.

The Wi-Fi e-reader has a large touchpad screen (21 x 15,5 cm), and the reading experience is, according to Ecosphere, agreeable.

“The subway test, during peak hours, was conclusive. One can read his favorite daily in a confined space, turning the pages with a simple pressure of the thumb,” wrote Ecosphere.

The e-reader can be connected to a computer like a USB key, to transfer PDF documents or RSS feeds, or even whole books (from the Gutenberg project library).

The full edition of Les Echos runs across 165 e-paper pages. The battery runs four hours non-stop, including Wi-Fi connections, which are energy-consuming. According to other users, the battery can last up to 10 hours.

Now the question is whether massively produced e-paper will fulfill newspapers’ – and readers’ – expectations.

Source: Ecosphere