Flexible NewsWexler has discontinued its Flex One e-readerAccording to reports, Wexler has discontinued its Flex One e-Reader. The Flex One was only available in Russia and never launched in other countries. The company will announce a new e-reader in April, we don't know if it'll also sport a flexible E Ink panel. The Flex One used LG's flexible plastic based E Ink panel (6", XGA 1024x768), and in fact almost the whole device (besides the bottom part) is made from plastic and so can be bent - and is quite shatterproof (and very light).
Wistron winds down Polymer Vision, will continue to develop the foldable E Ink IPBack in 2009, Wistron bought Polymer Vision for €12 million, and now there are reports that Wistron decided to close the company and lay off all of the staff. Wistron will continue to develop the IP on its own. Polymer Vision was about to release the Readius 
The Wexler Flex One - the first e-reader to use LG's flexible E Ink panels?Back in March LG Display announced that it is already producing XGA (1024x768) flexible plastic-based E Ink panels for a Chinese ODM. Now we hear that Wexler is that ODM, and the upcoming reader will be called the Flex One. And as was expected, the device itself isn't flexible or bendable: but however it is very durable, thin and light.
The Flex One features LG's 6" XGA monochrome panel, non-touch. The reader sports 8 Gb of memory, ePub and PDF support and a mini-USB port (no wireless it seems). Apparently the refresh rate is very high, and the battery is good for about two weeks of reading.
Is a plastic-based E Ink reader imminent?LG Display announced that it started to produce flexible plastic-based E Ink panels for a chinese ODM, which will use them in an e-reader to be announced in Europe next month. The panels feature XGA (1024x768) resolution. The panel is bendable, but it's not clear whether the actual e-reader will have be bendable. The display will be unbreakable, and will also be lighter and thinner than glass based E Ink panels. We'll have to wait for next month to see the actual e-reader device...
LG Display says that 10% of e-reader displays have been damaged - because someone dropped them or set on them. The new display can withstand a fall from 1.5 meters and is unscratched by hammer hits...
Plastic Logic got a $700 million investment to build a flexible e-paper factory in RussiaPlastic Logic announced a major investment from Russia's RUSNANO. The $700 million (!) investment will be used to build a mass-production factory for thin, light and flexible plastic-based e-paper displays. Those displays will be used in Plastic Logic’s first commercial consumer electronics product, a next-generation electronic reader for business that is currently under development. This isn't the Que e-reader which was canceled in 2010.
LG Display plans to mass produce color 9.7" and flexible 19" E Ink panelsLG Display plans to begin mass production of color 9.7" e-paper panels, and 19" flexible monochrome ones (most likely both are based on E Ink). We don't know LG's plan for the displays, but we can assume they're targeting e-readers, and perhaps newspaper-sized ones, too (for the 19" flexible panels).
LG has unveiled their 19" flexible E Ink panels back in January (shown above). The panels are only 0.3mm thick, and weight just 130 grams. It uses metal foil, and so it can recover its original shape after being bent.
LG plans to introduce their own e-reader in AprilLG's CEO KW Kim revealed today that LG will soon launch a new e-reader product, hopefully by April 2010. It will compete with Amazon's Kindle and Apple upcoming iPad. That's all we currently know. We do know that LG Display are making E Ink based displays, and have recently shown a 19" flexible prototype. A few months ago they have also shown an e-reader with a built-in thin-film solar cell. So perhaps LG will unveil a flexible solar-powered e-reader?
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