Here is a very cool development from Japan. Apparently refurbished devices of Sony's first-generation e-book reader, the Librie EBR-1000, are on sale (http://akiba.sorobangeeks.net/news_9130.html). Now available for 29,800 JPY (~ USD 290.984) - not a bad price considering that Japan export dealers still ask for (http://www.japan-direct.com/cartitem.asp?prodid=552) USD 439.00 (down from USD 489.00).

Could this mean Sony is silently phasing out the EBR-1000 before announcing its successor?

The EBR-1000 went on sale (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1525) in Japan in April 2004, and never made it to oversea countries. It utilizes Philips' remarkable electronic ink (E Ink) technology offering a truly paper-like reading experience. Alas, two of its biggest obstacles are a slow screen refresh and the hideous DRM format - bought e-books would self-destruct after 60 days (later 'scythic' published a hack (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2544) allowing you to convert your own e-book content).

We hope that Sony has learned from the past and will come up with a more sensible DRM policy for the successor model.

[news on sale via Akihabara News]

Could this mean Sony is silently phasing out the EBR-1000 before announcing its successor?
Well, one can hope. In fact, if there is a new version I hope it uses the hi-res Toppan (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2854) "paper" that was discussed a month ago.

This Toppan paper looks really amazing, doesn't it? Imagine 400dpi... smooth as silk ;)

This Toppan paper looks really amazing, doesn't it? Imagine 400dpi... smooth as silk ;)
Isn't 170dpi the limit of the human eye anyway (given a normal viewing distance)?

Nope it lies between 200 and 300 -- at least that was my conclusion when I did some research on Toppan paper (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2854).

I admit, 170dpi is already great and a big step forward from traditional lcd resolutions.

Am I the only one who is wondering why until now the Librie is the only mobile device featuring E-Ink technology?

Am I the only one who is wondering why until now the Librie is the only mobile device featuring E-Ink technology?
It's probably an exclusiveness agreement. I found these pages mentioning it:
http://www.slobytes.org/newsletter/nl0302.pdf
http://www.eink.com/company/partners.html

So Philips has the technology exclusively for europe, and Toppan for Japan - that's what I think anyway :huh2:

The press release (http://www.eink.com/news/releases/pr70.html) mentions more than 100 patents...

Hmmm....well, i won't call this exciting news. 29,000 yen seems reasonable for a refurb, not exactly closeout models pictured. the price in japan for the device is still 37,000 yen or more, almost everyway. The librie's the in the pic appear to have the price tags of softmap, a well known refurb store of used electronics. so an 8,000 yen discount for a used model seems like normal pricings to me.
i suspect the librie is more of an experiment than something sony will put a lot of support behind. i think they are probably testing e-ink for use in future techonologies as well.