Here's the first glimpse of Sony's soon-to-be released e-book reader, courtesy of Rick Wilking (http://blogs.reuters.com/2006/01/04/glimpse-at-new-sony-reader/) from Reuters. The device's name: Reader. Expect more details soon as CES gets underway.


Update: Sony has officially announced the Reader in this press release (http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-04-2006/0004242873&EDATE=) and there is an official product website here (http://products.sel.sony.com/pa/PRS/index.html?DCMP=reader&HQS=showcase_reader).

Specifications and features: Dimensions- 6.9” by 4.9” by .5” Weight - 8.8 ounces 6 inch SVGA 800X600 4-level grey-scale E Ink screen Internal Memory Capacity- Approximately 80 unillustrated books MP3 playback through headphone jack Battery Life - Approximately 7,500 continuous page turns Recharges in 4 hours (AC) or 6 hours (USB) SD and Memory Stick expansion slots Supported formats - BBeB Book / Adobe PDF / JPEG / MP3

According to this article (http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,124126,00.asp) at PCWorld.com, the Reader will be available in April priced between $299 and $399 at $349.99 (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=9g2xq-p6sD6xlKnFM767oKV1FB3tyllZLk8=?ProductSKU=PRS500&Dept=audio&CategoryName=pa_pdr).

More images after the jump (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=5663).

[via Engadget (http://ces.engadget.com/2006/01/04/live-shot-of-the-reader-sonys-new-e-ink-e-book-reader/)]

Related: Sony to launch "iPod for e-books" at CES (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5626)

So the Sony Reader is the (US-) revamped version of the Sony Librie. Another user here online said that the SR will have a faster screen. But other than that, and the addition of SD card and PDF support (latter is just a software feature). All these years of waiting - and all Sony did was to bring this small Librie upgrade and to find US publishers who would sign up for Sony's ridiculous e-book format?

Gizmodo has more here (http://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/ces/live-from-ces-the-sony-reader-146628.php):

To give you an idea of just how good this display looks… I walked up to the counter, looked at the text on the screen and asked, “So when will you have working units to play with?” The reply: “This is a working reader.” I mistakenly though the text on the screen was some kind of plastic overlay—that’s how ink-like it looked. Then the PR rep increased the text size, searched through the table of contents and showed me some Manga comics. It is the first e-reader that seemed like I could sit down and spend hours on without experiencing eye strain.

Says a lot about E Ink, but like others, I'm not sure if the Reader will trump the iRex (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=5664).

"These formats require file conversion to BBeB using supplied software."

That sentence says a lot. Is anyone else tired of having to do file conversions? I know I am.

And, of course, another attempt to get people to use memory sticks.

"These formats require file conversion to BBeB using supplied software." That sentence says a lot. Is anyone else tired of having to do file conversions? I know I am.
Wow I missed that. And of course, like with most file convesions, some (meta) data gets lost. Not pretty.

The Register covers it, too (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/05/sony_prs-500/).

All these years of waiting -- and all Sony did was to bring this small Librie upgrade and to find US publishers who would sign up for Sony's ridiculous e-book format?Well, they did cut the price significantly.

Well, they did cut the price significantly.
Are you sure?

When the Sony Librie came out (April 2004), it was available at a SRP of 47900 Yen. With a currency rate of 1 Yen = USD 0.009365 at that time, the Sony Librie did come out at ~ USD $450.00. The pricing for the Sony Reader is quoted at USD $300-400. The price drop isn't that significant to me.

Here's the official product page (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=9g2xq-p6sD6xlKnFM767oKV1FB3tyllZLk8=?ProductSKU=PRS500&Dept=audio&CategoryName=pa_pdr) at SonyStyle.com store. Price: $349.99

The battery life measure as 7500 page turns is somewhat odd, assuming it uses some kind of back light. I get suspicious when they obfuscate relevant stats.

The charge time seems long too, 4 hours AC, 6 USB. My eBookwise reader will charge up in about 1 hour.

The unit is a bit largish and the page turn buttons are tiny, the text looks nice, though.

Still its nice to see additional choices being marketed.

E Ink doesn't use backlight.

Ah, okay, that makes sense then. That would make for a quite long battery life at 7500 page turns. Am I right thinking that would last an average reader about 60 hours of straight reading time then? Assuming 20 seconds to read each page, with each page being the size shown on Sony's website.

http://www.sonystyle.com/intershoproot/eCS/Store/en/imagesProducts/650x650/ebook.jpg

That sounds very likely. Perhaps someone who already owns a Sony Librie could give you more details regarding practical battery lifetime.

hi if u want to partecipate i just created a blog on sony reader on this address
[Link Removed]

Editor's Note: The blog in question merely posts articles from other sources in their entirety without giving proper credit and has no original content.

Why create a blog if you can find all the info here? ;)