Quote:
Originally Posted by porkupan
Well, actually the PRS-700 come from the factory preloaded with one of the two versions of firmware: 1.0.00.10060 (older) and 1.0.01.12050 (current). The only difference I could see by comparing md5 checksums of all binary modules was a switcher.so object. Which in all probability is not too important, since Sony did not issue a public update for 1.0.00.10060. If you load the latest firmware image with the clock, you will get the 1.0.01.12050 installed on your reader (not sure if one can call it a bonus).
So far there hasn't been any functionality update, and I suspect there will be none for PRS-700 in the future. The PRS-700 has been more or less universally recognized as a failure of design (the touchscreen-front light messing up the biggest advantage of an eInk reader - the display). I hope Sony engineers are hard at work on the next model of a Sony Reader, which will be able to compete within the growing ebook reader market. My suspicion is, there are actually few engineers engaged in the software development for the Readers at Sony, not nearly enough to continue supporting existing product line. The cries for dictionary lookup support have been left unanswered - the only feature that could somehow compensate for the unfortunate disadvantage of the PRS-700 screen. After a big hoopla that accompanied the launch of PRS-700, we have heard nothing from the company - no hints of things to come, no promises, no marketing BS.
I just hope someone at Sony is actually paying attention to the ebook fans' community, and the next reader in the pipeline is not a "PRS-700 with Wi-Fi". If it's all it is, it's going to be the end of this business for Sony. At a minimum the screen must be on the 505 level (even if it means hiding the touchscreen behind the eInk display, and getting rid of the front light), the dictionary lookup has to be included. Some web browsing capability via an external network interface (be it 3G or Wi-Fi, I prefer the latter), with ebook download support is an absolute must as well. |
Harsh words porkupan, I wouldn't say the 700 is a failure, it is however not THE ULTIMATE BEST which I presume is what most people wanted it to be. I have to ask, do you own a PRS 700 or 505? I find that most 505 users have the opinion that the 700 is as good as a donkey's kidney.