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Story URL: http://management.silicon.com/itpro/0,39024675,39163972,00.htm

Digital newspapers by 2008
Saving the planet through paperless printing?

By Gemma Simpson

Published: Friday 10 November 2006

Imagine unfurling the morning paper to find a flexible electronic display streaming the latest news - this fantasy could become a reality in just two years.

The technology behind the so-called 'e-papers' could also be used for paperless printing, where you simply download a file onto a flexible screen instead of printing it out onto a piece of paper.

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Herman Hauser, co-founder of venture capital company Amadeus Capital Partners, told silicon.com there are no technical challenges left for e-papers and hopes to have a factory producing flexible electronic screens by 2008.

Hauser added paperless printing "can save the world's trees" because it hugely reduces paper usage.

A technology called 'plastic electronics' has been harnessed by boffins to produce flexible electronic displays, combining electronics and print technology on a supple screen.