Tuesday, 13 October 2009

THE EBOOK REVOLUTION CONTINUES

The eBook reader space continues to get more crowded with Amazon’s Kindle 2, Sony and soon Barnes & Noble all jockeying for market share. Now LG, manufacturer of cell phones and LCD TVs is jumping into the eBook reader space with a solar powered device in 2012 that could eventually operate without ever charging from an electrical outlet.

That would go a long way in appealing to readers who still like the portability of paper-based books without the need to ever plug in for a charge. The new eBook reader would feature a 10 centimeter square solar cell, .7 millimeters thick and weighing 20 grams.

Right now the device would require exposure to sunlight for four to five hours to power day’s worth of reading. For an average reader that could work in for an extension once in a while but regularly remembering to leave the eBook reader in a sunny place every day could get overbearing.

LG is working on improving the power efficiency though, and solar cells continue to make gains in capturing solar power. Right now the device has an energy conversion efficiency of about 9.6%, and LG hopes to raise that to 14% prior to commercialization.

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