Harry Potter newspaper moving images become reality

The screens will be about the size of a mobile phone screen and are powered by rechargeable batteries. They contain chip technology, similar to those inside singing greetings cards, which play the video once the page is turned and can hold up to 40 minutes of video. These will feature in a September issue of Entertainment Weekly and will play previews of upcoming CBS shows like The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men, as well as adverts for soft drink Pepsi. President of CBS’s marketing group, George Schweitzer, said: “This is the first way we can get video samples into the hands of entertainment enthusiasts off the television screen.”

It may seem farfetched to link a small screen in a magazine to the magic of the Harry Potter films but other developments have meant fans are right to get so excited. Last year Esquire, the men’s lifestyle magazine, used e-ink technology to create a changing cover, and rumours of an invisibility cloak, which bends light around itself, suggest the technology is only two years away. Some techie enthusiasts are already trying to find ways to hack into the chips so the screens play their own videos.

Just think – if they extend the memory and add sound (and a headphone socket) you could pretend to be reading a very important article when actually watching your favourite film. And what’s next? A Firebolt broomstick? We here at Boxwish would definitely like to see Time Turners become reality!

See the screen in action here.