E-Books: Apple designs a dual-screen e-reader

Apple has placed a patent application on a new type of e-reader. Apple researchers believe that e-readers can become even far more convenient when equipped with two displays – on the front and on the back.

The text of the application and the very name of the device - Motion Controllable Dual Display Portable Media Device - make it easy to get the idea of inventors - Benjamin Rottler and Michael Ingrassia.

The whole point is that the device is expected to guess what should be displayed on the second screen depending on what is shown on the first one and on the manner user flips the e-reader. For example, flipping left to right could present the book's table of contents on the second display, while flipping top to bottom could load the next page in the book or magazine.

"For example, once the user has finished reading a page of a document, the page must be refreshed in order to present another page of the document," the application reads. "The need to refresh in order to view a new page can be frustrating as it requires the reader to stop and wait for the new page to come into view." Apple's "flip" user interface would allow the device to anticipate what the user might view next. By default it may be the next page.

Apple also provides other examples of more complicated operations with Dual Display Media Device when a user selects a word on the page, and then flips in a specific direction to get a dictionary definition of that word. There are no limits to the number of such examples – everything depends on fantasy of designers, who can add to the software almost any options.

In April under the spotlight was another patent application submitted by Apple, where the company proposed to design hybrid displays, combining liquid crystals and e-ink technology. Such display built in iPad would not affect its functionality and continue to display color images as before. But at the same time such a tablet will be able to work without recharge for weeks in case its owner uses it just for reading.