The balls in the tube are 15-inches or so above the surface of the screens. You can also clearly see that both screens are operating during the test. The ball used appears to weigh slightly less than 140 grams. The balls are dropped on the screens and the standard screen as you expect doesn’t fare well. The ball shatters the glass making the screen worthless.

The ball also bounces on the surface of the glass screen repeatedly. The flexible Polymer Vision screen is able to absorb the shock so well that it easily survives the test and absorbs the shock so well that the ball doesn’t even bounce. I would love to see a color version of this screen in a smartphone.

That’s the same resolution as the 6-inch Kindle, which certainly bodes well for ereader duties. According to Polymer Vision, the flexible display can be rolled up 25,000 time without damage, and will furl up around a rod with 6mm radius.

It may not just be ereaders that Polymer Vision has in mind, however. The company recently outed a concept design for a folding smartphone, which could be used as a regular handset, opened up into a small tablet, and then pulled further apart to offer even more screen space. Obviously it’s shown with a color screen, whereas the video below shows a monochrome prototype, so it’s hard to know exactly how far out such a gadget may be from the market.

[via The Digital Reader]

According to Chong, the Wistron device will be around the size of a business card, and have a pull-out display.  It’s likely that means a fold-around display rather than a true, completely furled panel as we’ve seen in some of the more outlandish prototypes.

What’s unclear is whether the Wistron version will have embedded wireless connectivity, as Polymer Vision’s original Readius design did.  Earlier this year, before the buyer was publicly known, it was suggested that the target market would shift from smartphones to ebook readers; even so, with the proliferation of wireless-connected ebook devices, it seems sensible to keep some form of cellular UMTS connection in place for mobile ebook downloads.

Also unclear is exactly what the Wistron-led company will be developing.  Polymer Vision’s first product was to be the Readius, a smartphone/MID device with a foldable 5-inch e-paper display, integrated 3G, Bluetooth and more.  Back when the sale was announced, it was suggested that the focus would shift from the competitive smartphone sector to wirelessly-connected ebooks instead.

The Polymer Vision team are now working in Wistron’s Mobile Business Group, and the expectation is still that foldable e-paper will reach mass production.  The company was initially spun-out from a Philips research project back in 2006.  More Readius hands-on images here.

However the company’s focus will now shift, away from mobile phones and to concentrate more on ebook readers.  It’s unclear whether this will mean their shipping products lack any sort of cellular connectivity, or whether it is to be more a semantic positioning whereby the integrated modem is used solely for downloading content wirelessly rather than demanding it be side-loaded.

No word on when we can expect to see the first products arrive on the market, but going by director Karl McGoldrick’s comments to a Dutch paper it seems they’re racing to be first to the shelves with a foldable solution.  The Readius was tipped to arrive back in fall 2008, but was scuppered when its funding turned out to have been part of a third-party pyramid scheme.

[via Mobile Read]

The administrators have not yet commented on their plans for the company, but it seems likely that Polymer Vision’s technology will be sold off to a third-party.  The company had previously invested £3m ($4.9m) in clean-room manufacturing facilities, intended to produce the foldable screens developed by Southampton University.

Polymer Vision themselves are yet to issue a statement, and their site is unchanged.  Nearly fifty jobs have apparently been lost.  The Readius used a 5-inch folding e-ink panel and had integrated 3G connectivity, and was intended to be used as a smartphone-style device.  We caught up with it back in 2007, and you can read the full hands-on piece here.

[via Mobile Entertainment]

“This product should have been out in the market last year, it is really frustrating … We are ready to go into production but all depends on exactly when the funding comes through.  Our display is perfect and the device is solid” Karl McGoldrick, CEO, Polymer Vision

The Readius has a 5-inch e-ink display that, when closed, wraps around the reader’s main electronics.  Control is via eight touch-sensitive buttons, and there’s an integrated 3.5G cellular connection and microSD slot.

According to McGoldrick, the next-gen Readius will include an ebook reader and cellphone; it’s unclear how it differentiates from the Readius we played with at Mobile World Congress last year.  That could be used as a cellphone with a hands-free kit, either wired or Bluetooth, as well as used to access internet pages.

Aside from a 5-inch foldable epaper display, capable of 16 levels of grey, the Readius has 3.6Mbps HSDPA, Bluetooth, a microSD slot and promises 30hrs battery life.  Control is via a range of touch-sensitive buttons next to the display.  Pricing is still unknown, but earlier estimates suggested it would be “comparable to a high-end mobile phone”.

Back at the Mobile World Congress our sister site PHONE Magazine got some hands-on time with the latest Readius prototype and shot some exclusive video footage.  Make sure to check out the link for all the details.

[Thanks Alex!]