A Dutch company, Polymer Vision, is to launch a mobile phone with a pull out e-paper display, Reuters reports.

The "Readius" is due to hit the market mid-2008 and is positioned as not only a competitor to high-end mobile phones, but also to the likes of Amazon's Kindle e-book reader.

The black and white 5-inch (13cm) display of the Readius is apparently the world's first that folds out when the user wants to read news, blogs or email and then folds back in so that the device can fit into a pocket.

"You get the large display of e-reading, the super battery life of e-reading, and the high-end connectivity ... and the form factor and weight of a mobile phone", said Karl McGoldrick, chief executive of Polymer Vision, a company quarter-owned by Philips. "We are taking e-reading and bringing it to the mobile phone."

The 3G phone will offer web browsing as well as calling features, and email, audio books and RSS feeds will be pushed to the device.

No pricing or exact availability has been announced as yet.

>> Via - Reuters
>> Additional pics - AVING