Sony's Digital Paper Tablet Finally Gets A Version You Might Use

When most of us think of e-ink devices, we probably think of something small like one of Amazon's Kindles. Sony took a different approach with its DPT-RP1 tablet, which features a display as large as a standard sheet of A4 paper and is meant for more than reading eBooks. This tablet was instead meant for the professional world, targeting occupations that handle a large number of documents, such as lawyers or doctors.

As such, the DPT-RP1 is geared more toward tasks like PDF editing and document creation, but with a display that clocked in at a whopping 13.3-inches, it was definitely a large device to be carrying around. Today, Sony introduced its new DPT-CP1, which basically takes all of the functionality of the DPT-RP1 and shrinks it down into a smaller package.

The DPT-CP1 still attempts to mimic the size of a real-world piece of paper, only this time around, A5 paper is the source of inspiration. That means a display that's a fair bit smaller than its predecessor, coming in at 10.3 inches. The DPT-CP1 features a resolution 1404 x 1872, and like its larger brother, it's still a lightweight device at about 8.5 ounces and a max thickness of 5.9mm.

Sony says the tablet ships with 16GB of onboard storage and, like the DPT-RP1, it also comes with a stylus, so it should have everything you need to get up and running out of the box. With this tablet, Sony is also introducing a new Digital Paper app, which will allow you to share documents from a smartphone or the cloud to the tablet without involving a PC. Battery life is said to last as long as three weeks, but obviously, that depends on how much you use the tablet on a day-to-day basis.

While your average consumer probably won't have much need for a digital paper tablet like this, it's easy to see it catching on in the business world. That is, of course, assuming that Sony makes it easily obtainable outside of Japan, but right now, there's no word on whether or not it will launch in other regions. Price is also a big question mark, but we can probably expect it to be priced similarly to the DPT-RP1, which runs around $700 here in the US. We'll probably receive answers to these remaining questions as we close in on launch, which is currently slated for June.