Archive for the ‘Sony eBook Readers’ tag
More Thoughts on the New Sony eReaders 1 comment
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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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/
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Sony PRS600 Touch Edition eReader Review 1 comment
I finally was able to get my very own Sony Touch Edition e-reader a few days ago. I had hoped to have one last week so that I could do a review last weekend, but it was not to be.
The Sony Touch Edition has apparently been selling well in the two weeks or so that it has been out, at least judging by the short supply that it seems to be in. I tried to buy one from my local Sony Style store last week but they were out of stock. In spite of recent talk on the internet about how the retail price of ebook readers needs to drop to $50 (?) to reach mass acceptance, the Pocket Edition which retails for $100 less at $199 is still in stock at most outlets that I’ve checked; so maybe it’s not selling as well as the Touch Edition is at $299? No way to tell without knowing the production and sales numbers. Amazon
You will see in the pictures that the Sony PRS600 is packaged with a USB 
cable, a Neoprene slipcase and a quick start guide. What you will not see is an AC adaptor. If you want that you will need to pay another $30. Maybe this is not such an issue as the battery in e-Ink based ebook readers lasts for so long; however it does mean that you have to have your computer on while charging your e-reader with the USB. A full charge over the USB cable takes about four hours. The slipcase, while being a nice gesture, is pretty flimsy and does not look like it will provide any serious protection. Probably a good cover is advisable.
No software cd is included or needed. There is a brief startup process on the PRS600. I also noticed that there are about twelve books and excerpts pre-loaded on my new ebook reader. These include a work by Stendhall, The Three Musketeers by Dumas, and even a short story by Stephen King. Curiously, several of these were in German or French instead of English. I bought my ereader in North America, and in the setup I choose English; shouldn’t the pre-installed books be in my chosen language? If Sony wants to prove that its ebook reader can handle other languages, all they have to do is put it in the specs – I’ll believe them.
Now to actually buy, download and read an ebook on my new ereader. I’ve recently read the first installment in the Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison. If you have not read it, it is kind of like Kinsey Millhone with magic and….well… with pixies. And vampires. Anyway, it’s fun, I like vampires; not that I’ve actually met any and lived to tell about it. To start off, I want to see what the competition, in this case the Kindle store, is doing so that I have some kind of reference point. The second book in the series, “The Good, the Bad, and the Undead”, is available for the Kindle for $5.49. Good, now over to the Sony Store. …Uhmmmm….$13.49. More than double what Kindlers are paying. Never mind, Sony’s e readers have embraced openess and we are now compatible with Adobe Digital Editions, so I can buy from another store in that format. So I’m off to other ebook stores to see what the best price I can come up with is, and ….uhmmmm….well, so much for openness. After wasting 15 – 20 minutes price checking I’m dragging my mouse back to the Sony eBook Store, as $13.49 is the cheapest price that I can find. Yes it is nice to be able to buy your ebooks from any store you choose. But unless your cousin works at one of them, what’s the point if the prices and selection are almost the same at all of the stores and epecially if the prices are more than double that of the main competition? You are probably starting to wonder why I didn’t just buy the paperback version for less than $5.
Anyway, the Sony eBook Store software is pretty easy to download and install. It’s just a matter of entering your credit card number and then drag and dropping the downloaded file to your e reader after you activate it. There was also a firmware update, which I installed with no apparent problems. I don’t use Mac, so I can’t test Sony’s newly compatible software with that.
Sony’s PRS700 ebook reader was notorious for its glare, which is caused/made worse by the touch screen. I was worried that the PRS600 might share the bad genes, so I have tried it in several different lighting conditions. Actually, in direct sunlight I found the ereader to be very readable, and contrast was very good in the bright light. Great for the beach. Where I had problems outside was on my patio, which is partially covered and provides a dappled shade. This is bad, as it is hard to find an angle that doesn’t show varying degrees of glare across the screen, which is most distracting when trying to read. Indoors I had problems reading beside a lamp (for example in bed with a side table lamp). It was somewhat distracting to find a comfortable angle to avoid the glare from the lamp.
The touch screen in general is good. It does make navigation easier. On the other hand it does reduce contrast and there is some glare, though less than I had feared. Sony definitely could have done a better job of implementation. To make notes or highlight you must first tap on a hardware button and then an icon to activate that ability. Too many actions. The page turn is the worst though. To accomplish page turns, you either use a finger swipe on the touch screen or use the hardware button at the bottom of the e reader. It seems hard to get the pressure right for the finger swipe as if you don’t press hard enough nothing happens. I then found myself becoming afraid that I would swipe too hard and scratch the screen. This wouldn’t be such an issue if Sony had placed the page turn hardware button on the right and left edges of the bezel about halfway up the sides of the ereader; but no, they put it at the bottom. It is very hard to hold this ereader with one hand and turn pages while, say, lying in bed. Distractions like this make it harder to get lost in a good book.
Actually, I’ve had a couple of touch screen phones that I’ve read books on and have had the same problems with the page turn swipe. It seems to me that the correct amount of pressure required for this action on most touch screens is not an intuitive one, and is hard to file in one’s muscle memory. Maybe that’s just me, but I would ask any ebook reader manufacturers that use a touch screen on their ereaders in the future to please also include page turning buttons that can easily be thumb-pressed when the ereader is being held in either the left or right hand only, in lieu of the finger swipe if one so chooses.
All in all I’m enjoying my time with the PRS600. I have to admit to not being a huge Sony fan. Not all of my experiences with Sony products have had happy endings. Maybe Sony got it right this time though. The new ereaders (and this includes the PRS300) are attractive and appear to be well made. I like the aluminum case much better than the plastic one some ereaders have. I find myself really wanting to like the PRS600. There are two major issues though that make the Sony Touch Edition take second place to the Kindle 2 in my opinion, however.
The greatest shortcoming is the lack of content compared to the Kindle family’s ebook store. If you discount Google’s public domain titles, the Sony eBook Store has somewhere around one third as many titles as the Kindle store has. In the price comparisons that I’ve done the Kindle store is also usually less expensive. Most bestsellers are $9.99 pretty much everywhere now, so if you mainly read current bestsellers or the Google public domain ebooks you will probably be satisfied with Sony’s offerings. If, however, your reading taste falls somewhere between these two poles you may end up spending a lot more in the long run for your reading and have less to choose from. Yes, with the newly added support for Adobe Digital Editions you can shop around, but most of the ebook stores seem to have pretty similar prices and selection.
Sony’s UK ebook store appears to have even fewer titles than its US counterpart; one wonders how Sony’s ebook readers can seriously expect to challenge Amazon when the Kindles are introduced there. Of course it remains to be seen how many titles a Kindle UK store would launch with.
Wireless connectivity, of course, is the other area in which the new Sony ebook readers come up light when weighed against the Kindle. Yes, Sony has announced the Reader Daily Edition, which is supposed to come out in the next few months with a wireless connection provided by AT&T. According to the specs we’ve been given so far, however, that will only connect you to the Sony eBook Store. The Kindle’s Whispernet adds much more versatility to Amazon’s ereaders. If you need to you can browse the net, though admittedly the Kindle browser is not going to be anyone’s first choice when it comes to accessing the internet. But if you need it, it’s there. Same for being able to check your email or researching something you are reading about on Wikipedia. The business world is finding new applications for the Kindles all the time. If you work in the field and must carry several hundred pages of frequently changing documents how easy would it be for your office to email new and updated docs to your Kindle email address from whence they would be transmitted wirelessly to your ereader? To me the wireless connection is a more valuable feature than the touch screen.
I’ve only used my Sony Touch Edition for a few days now, but so far I think it’s a great ebook reader. The thing is I think the Kindle 2 is the better choice at the same price. On the other hand, if you really like Sony or if you don’t like Amazon for some reason, or if you would rather have the touch screen than Whispernet, then I don’t think you will be disappointed with the PRS600.
