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Esquire to roll out e-ink magazines

Men's magazine Esquire will publish a special edition electronic front cover - a move its editor claims was made because of the print industry's "lack of progress" since the nineteenth century.
The September issue of the US magazine will incorporate a built-in battery to power an electronic display, welcoming readers to the 21st century, Esquire said.

It will flash the words 'The 21st Century Begins Now', however, the battery will run out after 90 days.

Around 100,000 of the 720,000 magazines will feature the front cover, which will be hand finished.

The cost of the product is predicted to be far higher than the average magazine, although this won't be passed on to readers.

Car manufacturer Ford has taken an advert on the inside cover, helping to absorb the cost of producing the special edition.

To form an e-ink electronic display, the ink is printed onto a sheet of plastic film that is laminated to a layer of circuitry. The circuitry forms a pattern of pixels that can then be controlled by a display driver. These microcapsules are suspended in a liquid "carrier medium" allowing them to be printed using existing screen printing processes onto virtually any surface, including glass, plastic, fabric and even paper.


View: PrintWeek

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