Forget iPhone! A new Wonder Gadget is ready to conquer the hearts and pockets of gizmo lovers. A Dutch company, Polymer Vision, announced today that Readius, its foldable phone, will be ready for commercial launch by mid-2008. The Readius is a pocket sized device which combines a large 5 inch rollable display with 3G high speed connectivity for true mobility and instant access to personalized news and information.

Based on the same flexible e-paper technology as Amazon’s Kindle, Readius exploits the versatility of rollable displays to merge the ‘reading friendly’ strengths of e-readers with the ‘high mobility’ features of mobile phones.

Weighing only 115g, Readius offers twice the surface area of the largest phone display existent at the moment but it is equal to an average mobile phone when closed (115 x 57 x 21mm). The device is powered by a powerful processing engine (ARM11 400MHz).

“People are demanding greater choice and flexibility in having overall instant access to personal content and information” said Karl McGoldrick, CEO of Polymer Vision. “They do not want to be concerned with small screens, not being able to read in sunlight, a dead battery or a device being too bulky to carry in their pocket. Readius solves these worries and is generations ahead of anything else out there today”.

A rollable display can be split up in 3 key elements: the front plane - creating the image to the user; the back plane - the electronics managing the image on the front plane; and the outer substrates - used to support and protect the front and back planes.

Polymer Vision uses organic materials (sometimes called plastics) in all three elements of the display. The key property of organic materials is that they can be rolled when made thin enough. On top of that they can be processed at low temperatures.

Readius uses E-Ink technology, which means that its sharp black and white screen is as easy to read as printed paper. The screen works using ink, just like books and newspapers, but displays the ink particles electronically. It reflects light like ordinary paper and uses no backlight, eliminating the eyestrain and glare associated with other electronic displays such as computer monitors or PDA screens.

Similar to Kindle, Readius can last for 30 hours of continuous reading without battery charge. As for its phone function, the 3G HSDPA tri-band Readius allows worldwide calls and high speed instant updates from personally selected news sources, email and other services. Standard POP3 and IMAP is supported for ISP e-mail and others such as Yahoo!Mail, Google Gmail and Microsoft Exchange.

The Micro SD High Capacity storage ensures quick and easy access to e-books and valuable information. Readius also features audio capabilities, including MP3, for podcasts, audio books and music.

The first enthusiasts could catch a glimpse of Readius at next month’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, 11 – 14 February 2008.

Although Polymer Vision did not said what the price of Readius will be, Karl McGoldrick said for Reuters it would be comparable to a high-end mobile phone. Kindle, the e-reader unveiled last year by Amazon, is priced at $399.

Also, he said his “dream device,” which the company planned to build within the next 5 years, was a mobile phone with an 8-inch color display that could show video.