According to  iSuppli, the device costs $185.49 to manufacture–or about 52-percent of its manufacture suggested retail price.The most expensive piece of the Kindle, unsurprisingly, is the E Ink display at roughly 42-percent of the total material cost. According to iSuppli, the main application chip in the device, manufactured by Freescale Semiconductor–which also powers Microsoft’s Zune and the Ford Sync’s media controls–runs $8.64. Qualcom’s wireless module chip, meanwhile, runs $13.18. Also inside is Novatel Wireless $39.50 wireless data module. Amazon hasn’t commented on iSuppli’s assessment. [via gearlog]

Polymer Vision’s Readius was promised for fall of 2008, but months later there’s no sign of the innovative folding e-paper device.  According to CEO Karl McGoldrick, that’s because the companyneeds more money; he’s currently in talks with investors to refinance both the first Readius device and the in-development Readius 2.  According to McGoldrick, the next-gen Readius will include an ebook reader and cellphone.  That could be used as a cellphone with a hands-free kit, either wired or Bluetooth, as well as used to access internet pages. [via slashgear]