Related Sections: Portable Gadgets
Sony Daily Edition Reader lets you read in widescreen
When you open a book, you see two facing pages at once. Sony has duplicated this real-world reading experience with the introduction today of its third e-reader, the Reader Daily Edition, available this December for $400. Equipped with a 7-inch touchscreen and 3G wireless connectivity (finally) via AT&T to download books directly to the device, you can read a single page in regular portrait mode, or see two pages across in landcape mode.
Unlike Amazon's Kindle, the Daily Edition Reader will be sold through a large number of brick-and-mortar retailers incuding Best Buy, BJs, Borders, Sam's Club, Staples, Target, Toys "R" Us and Wal-Mart. Like the Kindle DX and the large-screen reader coming from Plastic Logic early next year, the Daily Edition makes large-format newspapers and magazines easier to read.
The new Reader also has the ability to borrow books from the library. More on that after the Continue jump, along with a few more pics of the Daily Edition.
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Sony's new eBook Library software 3.0 for PC and Mac, essentially the iTunes for Sony's Reader, will let you "borrow" books from your local library. The New York Public Library has 43,000 copies of 29,000 e-books that you can "borrow" for 21 days before they disappear. Even though the e-books aren't physical, copies of books are purposely limited — after all, publishers still want to sell copies. Reader will also download and display the million-plus public-domain Google Books.
Library books and increasing number of books offered from online book stores are encoded in the open EPUB format, which Sony is in process of switching to. To battle Amazon's iPod-like stranglehold on the e-book market, Sony and other e-readers will use EPUB and the ACS4 (Adobe Content Server 4) cross-platform e-book DRM. This will enable e-readers from all companies to link to multiple stores to shop and download. Books for Kindle are encoded in a proprietary protected format, much like Apple used to do with AAC for iTunes downloads.
The Daily Edition Reader joins the two other new Reader models, the Pocket Edition with a 5-inch screen ($200), available in rose, silver and blue, and the Touch Edition ($300), which has a 6-inch touchscreen.
All of this activity around the Reader and other e-readers, however, may be much ado about very little. In the words of publishing consultant Mike Shatzkin, Kindle and Reader, et al., may be "dead men walking." According to Shatzkin, dedicated e-book devices that cost between $200 and $300 appeal only to heavy book buyers and readers. The casual mainstream reader and technophobe is more likely to stick to cheap paperbacks or use one of the growing number of cellphone e-reader apps like Stanza (now owned and likely to be absorbed/killed by Amazon), Google Books, Wattpad (the YouTube of the e-book world), eReader and Barnes & Noble's eReader.
What do you think? Does the Sony Daily Edition appeal to you more than the Kindle or Kindle DX? And is the library-book feature exciting or "meh"? Tell us in the comments.
By Hobbes at 12:00 PM ON 08/25/09
I'm an eBook fan/reader. I like the convenience of the electronic format, but I still believe the book industry has a lot to learn from the music industry and its failed DRM/Control attempts.
While I find an eBook extremely convenient, the experience gets spoiled soon by the limitations of what you can do with the book you just bought. If I buy a paper edition I can give it away, sell it, allow my family to read it, etc. I can't do any of these things with an eBook. And the worst part is that most eBooks cost as much as their paper counterparts. I much rather buy the paper edition and have no limitations on what I can do with it, than buy the electronic version and be constrained by the Reader/DRM.
Once they solve the issue of DRM and price I'm back in. Until then nothing like reading a nice paper book.
By Granny Geek at 12:32 PM ON 08/25/09
My husband is legally blind, and this is EXACTLY what we've been waiting for.
By 9toes at 12:38 PM ON 08/25/09
Hobbes made a fine point on the price issue. What possible justification could the publishers have for charging as much, or more ,for the ebook than for a printed paper back of the same book? That issue is what has kept me from buying more.
By Kaled Ali at 1:53 PM ON 08/25/09
The Features are amazing on this ereader but the price is a little too steep. Also, when did the price of a electronic ebook become equal to or higher than a printed paper book? This is where the electonic book industry loses customers.
By crosshair at 4:15 PM ON 08/25/09
i got my wife who is legally blind a sony 700 reader last Christmas (as the kindle is useless outside of the states) and this product has allowed her to read for the first time in 10 years!! BRAVO SONY!! I can see my self buying the newest rendition of the reader as soon as it hits the market!! and remember there are many,many free e-books sites available so it does not all have to be the sony store for reading material!
By sheesb at 5:03 PM ON 08/25/09
I love my Kindle and won't switch---the fact that I don't need internet to download is a big plus since I live in the boonies. I also love that i can get just about anything I want thru Amazon.
By crosshair at 5:09 PM ON 08/25/09
yes BUT ONLY IF YOU LIVE IN THE STATES! LOL
By crosshair at 5:13 PM ON 08/25/09
the 700 reader and the new upcoming Sony reader will be a tad more...universal for the other 95% of the worlds population
By Klibrarian at 5:55 PM ON 08/25/09
I have a Sony PRS 505, and I have never paid for an ebook. I check out all of my ebooks from the library, keep them for 21 days, and then they go away. There is no reason to buy a book unless you will continually need it for reference. Want to remember what you read, and make recommendations for others? Get a Goodreads account. I think people are still very caught up in the idea of book ownership, because it is what they are used to, but it's an outmoded idea for most books. If you want to read a book again, check it out of the library again. Simple!
By Jessica at 8:48 PM ON 08/25/09
Kindle Rules? With no backlight and which requires an external reading light? Nah. I'll stick with my iPod Touch until the perfect reader (for access, cross platform, downloadability, ease of reading, etc.) comes out.
By LibertyNewsprint at 12:28 AM ON 08/26/09
Way too expensive. You can buy a laptop computer for that price which inherently carries more utility. Ereaders will take off when they give away the device along with the service... Just like Cell phones.
www.Libertynewsprint.com
By Andrys at 3:53 AM ON 08/26/09
This site was very useful tonight for my own report tpmogjt from a Kindle-user's standpoint, on the relative capabilities of the three new Sonys as well as comparisons between what they can/will do relative to the Kindle and vice versa. Thanks!
Books purchased from Sony store will have Adobe Digital Edition rights-protection added to the ePub format but some e-readers that license Adobe's Digital Edition will be able to read those purchased items.
- Andrys
http://kindleworld.blogspot.com
By Andrys at 3:55 AM ON 08/26/09
Apologies. That word I typed "tpmogit" is not a secret word but was meant to be 'tonight' except for clumsy typing.
- Andrys
http://kindleworld.blogspot.com
By Cynnara Tregarth at 4:24 PM ON 08/27/09
I love the idea of reading books as I want, just like a regular book and at the same time, being able to buy the reader at my local stores, which means I can get the accessories just as easily.
By wfpman at 4:51 PM ON 08/27/09
I like turning pages. Also the cost of these e-readers are still prohibitively high. If they were to go down in price to $100 then it might be justified.
Otherwise I'd rather spend the $20 or $15 on a hardcover or paperback.
By dhalgren at 5:46 PM ON 08/27/09
Nobody has mentioned the smell.
By kenaveco at 7:48 PM ON 08/27/09
I have an old RCA E-Book which I have had for almost 10 years. I love it. The battery doesn't charge up to full anymore, but it will charge to about 7-8 hours if I leave it plugged in all night. I love that it is backlit, so I can read when there isn't much light, but I can't buy any new books for it since they went out of business about 7 years ago. Good thing that I have my favorite books, which I read over and over. Ten yrs ago it cost me $250, so $300 for the kindle isn't that bad for today's inflation! If this one fails, I will look at all of them and then most likely get something. I love carrying around over 100 books, and can switch to whatever I'm in the mood for.
By necrosage2005 at 8:33 PM ON 08/27/09
Give me an "old fashioned" paper book over these things any day. You don't need to be tied to an electrical outlet, wi-fi spot, or pc for that. A book won't get a virus that wipes it out and turns it into a useless brick. It won't become obselete like the previous versions of these e-books, and you're never going to strike up a conversation with a cute stranger looking at the StarTrek pad like you will with a book. I really hope that you guys stop advertizing for these expensive wastes of time. They suck.
By moviedemon at 9:48 PM ON 08/27/09
$400 for an ebook reader seems like a blatant rip-off when you can look any direction and see devices with much more overall functionality selling for considerably less: iTouch, $230; netbook $299; laptop, $399.
I read a LOT of books on my old Palm and it cost a lot less than $400. Hell, you can buy a PS3 (with a freakin' Blu-Ray player) for less than that!!!!
Do they think people don't pay attention to these things?!? It's insulting!
Ebook readers are never going to have mass market acceptance until the price point gets way more realistic - in the sub-$100 range.
Electronic paper technology has been out long enough now that they really can't use that as an excuse anymore.
By amayhem at 11:41 PM ON 08/27/09
As an author and publisher readers need to understand we still need some kind of way to make at least a little money from our writing. E-books do cut cost of production since printing cost have been increasing dramatically over the past few years.
By Biskit at 10:20 AM ON 08/28/09
Wow, there are some people who really don't like these eBook readers! I have read stuff on the iPhone as well as my computer but the backlit LCD or LED display is very different than the eInk technology the readers use. I find on my eyes it is much easier than the computer or pocket device screen. I purchased the original Sony Reader when it came up and updated to the PRS-505 for Google Books support. I have around 240 books on my reader now and can't imagine not having it with me so I can always pick up where I left off in a book anytime there is downtime.
By LaFere at 5:52 PM ON 08/28/09
I have a PRS505 and don't plan on buying the model 3 for the same reason I don't plan on buying a Kenfall: my 505 still works very well. There are a number of library books I would like to read, many of which are out of print. As for paper books, I can read them any time I want or loan them to friends or simply store then till I feel the urge to read them. Storing on a hard drive is simply dangerous...
By Bill at 6:02 AM ON 08/29/09
I would take them more seriously if they made the kindle available in Canada. Our literacy rate is above 90% and it doesn't make sense to advertise it to Canadians who are more likely to use it but can't purchase it. If sony makes it available in Canada it will by default become the North American standard.
By Reader in Canada at 4:09 PM ON 09/03/09
I strongly agree with Bill. I tried to buy a Kindle for my disabled husband to find that Amazon does not now, nor do they plan to, offer Kindle in Canada. Are they nuts? How do we get this information across to Sony? We would be a heckuva market for them.
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Reader in Canada:
I strongly agree with Bill. I tried to buy a Kindle for my disabled husband to find that Amazon does not now, nor d...More »