Archive for the ‘Sony eBook Readers’ Category
More Thoughts on the New Sony eReaders no comments
The more I ponder Sony’s newly announced ereaders the more bizarre I think it is that Sony chose not to include a wireless connection in the PRS-350 and PRS-650. The only way I can explain this omission to myself is that Sony persists in looking at the ereader market primarily from the point of view of a hardware manufacturer with little regard for the market from the perspective of a content provider.
The new Sony Touch Edition is priced higher than the primary competition, no doubt in large part to the shiny new touchscreen that Sony has implemented. This in itself may not be such a problem, as in addition to a lot of hardcore Sony fans out there, many users will also value a touchscreen and the freehand note taking feature.
How much would it have cost Sony to include a Wi-Fi connection? $10 more per unit? $20? I’m not sure, but I think it should have been included at the announced price. A wireless connection is now perceived as being a standard ereader feature, and the Sony Touch and Pocket Editions will be seen as being somewhat crippled without it.
With a wireless connection Sony would be able to sell more of its ereaders, and more ereaders in the hands of users would mean more sales from the Sony Reader Store. Also, a wireless connection makes it almost too easy to buy ebooks. If you don’t develop some self control it is very easy to end up with a large backlog of purchased books waiting for your time to get them read. With a Wi-Fi connection in its ereaders Sony would surely sell more content from its Reader Store.
It feels to me (admittedly without actually yet having seen and worked with the new ereaders) as though Sony has taken a couple of steps forward and another step back, and quite possibly tripped over its own feet in the process.
Its sad really. Yes, I am a Kindle fan. That would be because I feel that the Kindle is the best ereader out there for the money at the present time. One reason is that it just works. Kindlers are not waiting around for the next patch to fix broken features or to finally add promised but still missing capabilities. Yes, there is still the occasional problem, and there will always be more features that we want, but Amazon has had the time to get most of the bugs worked out. The Kindle is the most mature platform. The Kindle Store also has more content, and to my thinking the Amazon shopping experience is better than the competition.
That being said, one of the reasons that the Kindle is more advanced is the competition presented by the NOOK, Kobo and all of the other announced ereaders that were waiting to jump into the market. Competition is generally good for consumers, and the ereader market is no different. I would like to see Sony introduce a really good ereader, Barnes & Noble to keep improving the NOOK, Kobo to introduce a better ereader with more advanced features, etc.
The new Sony ereaders do look like a a big improvement and I imagine that they will do quite well internationally, but I think that the absence of wireless connectivity will impair their chance to be a real contender in the US market.
If you want to have a look at the manuals for the PRS-350 and PRS-650 I have posted the links to them on the ereader manuals page.
Below are a couple of videos of the new Sony ereaders from YouTube. The first is a promotional video from SonyLearnTV, while the second is from SSRoss99 who was at the unveiling of the ereaders at NYC today. The other ereader in the second video is the jetBook Mini. The new touchscreen is obviously much better than that on the older models.
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New Sony eReaders no comments
The Sony Style website is showing three new ereaders that will possibly get their official unveiling at a Sony event tonight in New York City.
If you were one of the many people put off by the glare of the touchscreens Sony has been using in their ereader, there is good news. The new touchscreen is by Neonode which makes optically clear and very responsive IR based touchscreens. The new ereaders will also be sporting the Pearl display from E Ink with its improved contrast. On the downside – only the new Daily Edition will have a Wi-Fi or 3G connection.
More info will probably be available tonight, but so far here are a few details Sony has announced about its new line of ereaders:
Sony PRS-650 Touch Edition
- 6-inch Pearl e-ink display with 16 grayscales; resolution 800 x 600.
- Battery life: 7,500 page turns, 2 weeks; recharge time 3 hours USB or 2 hours AC.
- Internal memory 2GB; SD and Memory Stick PRO Duo card slots.
- Device size: 6 5/8 x 4 3/4 x .38 inches. Weight is just under eight ounces.
- Integrated dictionaries: New Oxford American and Oxford Dictionary of English. Also includes 10 built-in translation dictionaries.
- MP3 playback.
- Will be available in black or red.
- Six font sizes.
- Freehand highlighting and note taking.
Notes can be exported to your computer. Stylus is included or use virtual keyboard. - Priced at $229. Should be available within a few days.
Sony PRS-350 Pocket Edition
- 5-inch touchscreen, Pearl e-ink display. 800 x 600 pixels; 16 grayscales.
- Includes the dictionaries same same as PRS-650.
- Dimensions 5 3/4 x 4 1/8 x .33 inches. Weight 5.64 ounces.
- Battery life 10,000 page turns. Charging cycle same as PRS-650.
- Available in silver or pink.
- Priced at $179. Should be available within a few days.
The previous Pocket Edition was often panned for its lack of features. Sony seems to have listened to the complaints. The new ereader seems to only be missing MP3 support and expandable memory when compared to the PRS-650, but the improved feature set does come with a larger price tag.
Sony PRS-950 Daily Edition
The PRS-950 Daily Edition ereader will add a 7-inch screen
and will come with Wi-Fi and a 3G connection that will be good for connecting to Sony’s Reader Store. Priced at $299. Should be available in time for the holidays.
Sony also says that it has improved the PDF handling capabilities of its ereaders. Users will also be able to use their own photos as screensavers.
Sony is also developing ereading apps for the iPhone and Android that you will be able to sync – but since there is no wireless on the PRS-350 and PRS-650 you would have to sync these with the USB.
The new Sony ereader lineup looks much stronger than the last generation, but it is now facing much tougher competition – with the higher prices it remains to be seen how well they can compete in the US. It is encouraging that Sony has apparently been listening to user complaints and reviews and appears to be addressing some of the issues many had with its previous ereaders.
The touchscreen, with its note taking features, will be well received by many users; but the lack of Wi-Fi or 3G in the Touch and Pocket Editions is a major weakness. The Sony Reader Store also does not compare well to the Barnes & Noble ebook store or the Kindle Store, although Sony says that they are working on improving that as well.
I’m thinking that Sony will enjoy more success with its new ereaders in the international arena than it will here in the US, but nevertheless I will be happy to see a strong showing from Sony – the competition is good for all of us who like to read digitally.
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New Sony eReaders Incoming no comments
SonyInsider reports that they have been tipped to new Sony ereaders that are imminent. This is not unexpected news – Sony has been fading in the ereader space, at least in the US, and needs to do something if it wants to stay and play.
The two new ereaders – the PRS-350 and PRS-650 – are said to be more compact and lighter, and possibly as thin as 10mm. Improved contrast and faster page turns are rumored as well. Most likely Sony would use the Pearl e-ink display which has 50 percent more contrast than the previous generation. More internal storage is said to be likely, as is a Wi-Fi connection (and maybe 3G as well) for the PRS-650.
The PRS-350 will sport a 5-inch screen, while the PRS-650 will come with a 6-inch screen. Pricing will no doubt be competitive with the Kindle and Nook ereaders. The big question is whether Sony will improve the touchscreen to get rid of the glare, which really killed the PRS-600 for many people, including myself.
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eBooks, eReader & iPad News – 7/18/2010 1 comment
A quick look at some of the recent ereader and iPad news that I didn’t get to cover elsewhere.
App Inventor for Android
So you have an idea for a most excellent app for your Android device but don’t know how to program it? Well, now there’s an app for that. Google will soon have a beta version of App Inventor that easily lets you create apps with no programming knowledge by using a visual interface. The visual interface is said to make building an app easy for those who don’t know how to program.
The App Inventor comes with most Android functions available as modular building blocks, ready to plug into your creation. There are blocks for everything from using the GPS-location sensor or the phone features of your Android phone to blocks that perform more programming-like things such as storing information, repeating actions or performing certain actions under certain conditions.
Google will be opening up access to the App Inventor over the coming weeks. To get started you will need to fill out the online form at the link above.
via NYT
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iPad Software Update
Apple has released software update iOS 3.2.1 for the iPad. In addition to various bug fixes and improvements the following are addressed:
- Improved Wi-Fi connectivity
- Fixed an issue that could prevent copy and paste of single-page PDF attachments in Mail
- Addressed an issue that could cause video playback to freeze
- Improved reliability of video-out when using iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter
- Added Bing as an option for Safari’s search field
Compatible for both the Wi-Fi and 3G models of the iPad. To download the update connect your iPad to your computer and iTunes should detect and install the new software. You may need to click on your iPad in the left pane to get to the Update button on the Summary tab.
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3G nook at FCC
Barnes & Noble has applied with the FCC for a 3G version of the nook ereader. B&N’s internal project names for the 3G nook are CR Nook 3G and Bravo Delta 3G. There is not a lot of other info – schematics, photos and antenna specs have been withheld at the request of B&N. Too bad – maybe Apple could have learned something to improve the antenna of the new iPhone. 
via Best eReaders
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Neonode Signs zForce License Agreement
Neonode is an interesting touchscreen maker of very responsive IR-based touchscreens. The company announced recently that it had “signed a technology license agreement with one of the leading e-publishing companies in China in partnership with one of the largest ODM companies in Taiwan. The zForce license includes Neonode’s patented touch screen technology supporting high resolution finger navigation with gestures and sweeps.”
The last time I wrote about Neonode was when the company’s zForce touchscreen was to be used in one of the Chinese ereaders. That was just before Amazon bought TouchCo, which was a touchscreen startup.
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eBooks Becoming Big in Japan?
At the moment, most of the ebooks available in the Japanese language seem to be either manga or shorter light romance and porn. That could change soon. The Mainichi Daily News reported recently that NTT Docomo will be entering the ebook market in the early part of next year.
NTT Docomo is Japan’s largest cell phone carrier, and is most interested in marketing ebooks to its mobile phone customers. In Japan dedicated ereaders have never really taken off; most Japanese who read ebooks do so on their phones, which probably explains why a lot of the available ebooks are shorts. The introduction of the iPad to Japan may help change this.
Sony also recently announced that it was partnering with Asahi Shimbun Company (one of Japan’s largest newspaper publishers), Toppan Printing Co (one of Japan’s leading publishers) and KDDI Corp (telecommunications operator) to form an ebook distribution company.
Sony seems to be aiming its ereader business in other directions besides the North American market where it faces very stiff competition from Amazon’s Kindle and the Barnes & Noble nook ereaders.
A few days ago the WSJ JapanRealTime blog wrote that Dai Nippon Printing Co., LTD, which is one of Japan’s larger printing houses, is now also planning to open an ebook store by this autumn. The new store will offer about 100,000 titles from various publishers.
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Sony Daily Edition Promo Video no comments
Sony Electronics has made a new promo video of the Sony Daily Edition ereader for use in retail kiosks and online campaigns. With very little fanfare the prices of the Sony ereaders have also been officially lowered – the new MSRP for the Pocket Edition is $149.99, the Touch Edition is $169.99 and the Daily Edition is now $299.99.
In fact, you could usually buy the Sony ereaders for these lower prices (and sometimes even lower) from discounter electronics sellers before the official price cut. Sony also has an Outlet Store with refurbished ereaders – currently there are Pocket Editions for $139.99 and Touch Editions for $159.99.
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Books-A-Million eReader Contest no comments
It seems that the current strategy is for ereader makers to discount their devices and for the ebook sellers to then give them away for free. Books-A-Million is now running a contest in which they will give away one Sony PRS-505 ereader each day during the month of July.
When you purchase an ebook from BAM you will automatically be entered. As with all such contests – at least in the U.S. – there must also be a no purchase route of entry; otherwise it would be gambling. You can find all of the relevant details here.
It is curious that BAM is giving away the older Sony PRS-505. I appears that this is the only ereader that they are selling at the moment, and maybe they are trying to rid themselves of stock in order to make room for something new.
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Sony to Promote Digital Reading at Public Libraries no comments
Today is Library Advocacy Day, and to celebrate that Sony has announced its Reader Library program to support public libraries as they grow their ebook collections. Through the program Sony will provide public libraries with training on digital reading devices and will contribute ereaders for use by library staff. Instructional materials for library patrons on the access and use of the digital holdings at their library will also be provided.
From the press release:
The Reader Library program is open to public libraries with robust eBook lending programs. Program components include:
-- A training program for library staff developed by Sony. This one-time web-based session covers digital reading formats, an overview of sources for digital materials, and training on Sony's Reader digital reading devices. -- Sony's Reader digital reading devices for use by library staff and educational materials to provide readers background materials on digital reading devices. Sony will begin the program with a handful of libraries nationwide to tailor educational materials that reflect the content and features of each library's digital collection. -- Bi-annual update sessions designed to keep libraries and their staff current with the latest developments in digital reading content, format and devices.
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Sony Expanding Global eReader Business no comments
Sony announced today that it will be bringing its line of ereaders to more countries. From the press release:
Sony today announced it is preparing to make its Reader digital book available in several new markets. Plans include availability in new Asia/Pacific markets this year, including Japan, China and Australia, as well as further European expansion to encompass countries such as Italy and Spain. In each country Sony intends to leverage its relationships with local retailers, publishers and distributors to introduce the Reader along with a host of local content to help ensure the best possible reading experience.
Sony anticipates strong global demand for eReaders and eBooks in 2010, specifically within Asian markets. According to analyst firm Nomura Holdings Inc., Asia represents one of the fastest growing eBook and eReader markets, with Japanese eBook sales topping $500 million in 2009. Additionally, analyst firm DisplaySearch is predicting that China will become the world’s largest eReader market by 2015.
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Sony Touch on Sale no comments
The Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition ereader is currently selling for $199.99 at Borders. While this seems to be the cheapest price around, the Touch is also marked down at Newegg.comwhere the price is $219.99 with free shipping.
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Sony Reader Store Gets Shmoop Educational eBooks 1 comment
From the press release:
Shmoop (www.shmoop.com), a publisher of digital resources that make learning fun and relevant for students, today announced that it has made hundreds of its digital Learning Guides available as eBooks to Sony’s Reader™ Store, for downloading to Sony’s popular Reader and other compatible digital reading devices. More than 400 Shmoop eBooks for popular topics in Literature, Poetry, US History, Civics, Music, and Biography are now available.
“Sony’s Reader helped revolutionize the way people read and learn,” said Ellen Siminoff, CEO at Shmoop. “Sony’s Reader is a terrific reading experience that will help Shmoop bring smiles to millions of learners of all ages.”
Shmoop eBooks on the Reader Store
• Shmoop eBook Titles include witty and conversational Learning Guides for The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, World War II, the US Constitution, and Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.”
• Shmoop eBooks are now available in Sony’s Reader Store. A shortcut to the full list of Shmoop eBooks is available on Shmoop’s website at http://www.shmoop.com/sony-reader-ebooks/
