Sony touts flexible E-ink writing tablet

Over the last year or so, Sony has teased its flexible E-Ink screens on more than a few occasions. Up until recently, products that utilized E-Ink displays seemed to be off-market prototypes, although all of that has changed in recent weeks. 

Yes, a large-screenwriting tablet has been unveiled by Sony. Dubbed the “Digital Paper,” by the Japanese-based corporation, this rather interesting device boasts a 13.3-inch flexible E-ink prototype display with touchscreen support.

The screen can be controlled using just a finger, while the touchscreen tech is designed to respond to a pen or another stylus device.

Although the Digital Paper is currently considered a prototype, Sony says that it plans to have the device in Japanese university later this year.

The 13.3-inch screen offers up a resolution of 1600 x 1200 and is designed specifically to be (directly) written on.

Unfortunately, the Digital Paper is not loaded with a browser, and lacks support for applications and many other features one would expect from a modern tablet. Essentially, its sole function is to take handwritten notes, with the screen measuring in much the same as an A4 sheet of paper.

Other key specs include 4 GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot for storage expansion, and a battery promising, yes, up to three weeks of runtime. The device is also equipped with integrated Wi-Fi and weighs under a pound and measures 0.27-inches thick.

The single biggest problem with this device? Sony designed it to support PDF files only, as reports indicate the Digital Paper does not support any other file format, including Word or open source formats.