LG Presents Solar Powered E-Book

MikeChino writes "At first glance, e-readers offer a great set of benefits over paper-bound books – they’re light, versatile, and a great alternative to lugging around a tote full of dead tree tomes on your next trip. However these new reading mediums have one glaring fault — can you imagine the frustration of running out of juice mid-sentence and halfway through Infinite Jest? LG's new solar e-book aims to address this issue by harnessing the sun's rays to power its display. The device features a 10 centimeter wide thin-film photovoltaic panel that can power the reader for a full day's worth of reading after 4-5 hours spent sitting in the sun."

Aftermarket ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Couldn't the aftermarket industry simply offer up a E-Book sleeve/cover that has a built in solar cell and stays connected to the reader's power jack and bring this 'breakthrough' to any other E-Book desired?

Re:Gah, they need to do more market research

[Anonymous Coward]

They need to reduce the power consumption to the point that it can run off a solar cell being fed by ambient lighting.

Confused by the photos

[harmonise]

I'm confused by the photos. Are they comparing it to a Sony PRS-505 reader or is it just a power source for the Sony reader?

so they put a solar panel on a Sony e-Reader?

[SuperBanana]

Uh...that's a Sony e-Reader, one of the early models. With a solar panel attached to the inside of the protective jacket (which seems like the wrong side...)

Re:Kinda pointless considering that

[Tubal-Cain]

Chances are you'd be able to plug it in during that time, so there's not much need for a solar panel.

Maybe so, but a solar panel + eInk would probably be able to run off of ambient light and therefore not normally need a charger at all.

Useless

[NixieBunny]

It would have to be in full sunlight in order for it to charge, so unless you have a private sun-lit balcony handy, would you sit in the sun 4-5 hours a day just to babysit your expensive solar-powered E-reader? You'd pay a lot more for sunscreen than AA batteries cost.

Re:Remember kids- my HP calc plugged into the wall

[deniable]

Solar and wind-ups are the biggies for areas without power. The wind-ups are handy because you don't have to charge them in advance.

Solar lights seem to be big around here, basically being sold as garden/path lights that don't need any wiring. I picked up a ten pack on the weekend and put them on the trip hazards in the back yard. I have my doubts about the bug zapper, but I'll test it this weekend.

Re:Kinda pointless considering that

[glittalogik]

The Kindle charges from USB, doesn't it? Would something like this [instructables.com] do the trick?