Last week, Anatoly Chubais, Chairman of the Board of Rusnano, presented Russian PM Vladimir Putin with an e-reader prototype from Plastic Logic, a world leader in plastics electronics, reported news agency RIA Novosti. If current tests being held in some Russian schools are successful, the tablet could be used on a massive scale in the Russian educational system to replace printed textbooks. According to RIA Novosti, the tablet project may be utilizing the QUE proReader, a device designed by Plastic Logic in 2008-2009 but abandoned last year due to pricing and heavy competition.
But Plastic Logic has entered into an agreement with Rusnano, the state corporation in charge of developing nanotechnologies, to establish a commercial plastic electronics industry in Russia. The agreement, signed last January, includes building the world’s largest volume production factory for Plastic Logic’s next-generation plastic displays in Zelenograd, in the Moscow region. According to RIA Novosti, Rusnano has already invested 7.13 billion rubles, or nearly $245 million, in the project.
Chubais told Putin, however, that production of next-generation tablets would effectively start in Russia only if the current experiment is successful.
The tablet will be priced at 12,000 rubles, or just over $400, said Chubais, close to other tablets with a 9 or 10-inch screen on the Russian market.
