New Sony PRST1 reader with ANDROID?

[gardenstate]

An ereader PODCAST noted that an inside Sony source stated that the new ereaders will have the ANDROID operating system. Other juicy pieces of info were also given.

Link to BLOG
http://goodereader.com/blog/e-reader-radio/

Sony news after 20 min into the podcast...

Direct link to podcast:
http://goodereader.com/blog/audio/go...aug-3-2011.mp3

Hope it's true!

[Nate the great]

Has that rumor popped up anywhere else? If not then they are very likely lying about the inside source. Sony simply doesn't leak info in that manner. And besides, that pirate site doesn't have good contacts with hardware companies.

[Pinecone]

I have seen some stuff on Sony tablets also, I think it is likely that people are adding 2 + 2 and coming up with 8.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Pinecone

I have seen some stuff on Sony tablets also, I think it is likely that people are adding 2 + 2 and coming up with 8.

LOL That's a good one.

[Arrghus]

Why would the PRS-T1 need Android? How would Android work on a monochrome electronic ink display? How would it tap into app stores?

It's more probable that the OS/firmware of the current Sony Readers will be tweaked, rather than wholly replaced. The current firmware is stable. It's the software for loading books onto their devices that Sony (as always) needs to improve upon!

[juxtapose]

I don't see why Nate slams that blog every chance he gets. I read both nates and the goodereader blog daily and find both are good sources of industry news. I lean towards goodereader because they have more authors writing for them, do audio and video almost daily and are less biased. No offense.

ON another note, it seems many e-ink based e-readers are running android and it allows for more flexibility and long term development for app support then a closed SDK for Linux like most e-readers use.

[solitarywolf]

The guy on the audio made me want to stab my brain with a fork. He has a lot of information, but has no charisma to pass it along. 23 minutes later he starts talking about the PRS-T1. I don't know that we can trust all his information sources. I guess we will find out when the T-1 comes to market.

[Arrghus]

Originally Posted by juxtapose

I don't see why Nate slams that blog every chance he gets. I read both nates and the goodereader blog daily and find both are good sources of industry news. I lean towards goodereader because they have more authors writing for them, do audio and video almost daily and are less biased. No offense.

ON another note, it seems many e-ink based e-readers are running android and it allows for more flexibility and long term development for app support then a closed SDK for Linux like most e-readers use.

^ Funny. That's not quite how you phrased your post not too long ago. Glad to see you've edited out your inflammatory attack on Nate.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by juxtapose

ON another note, it seems many e-ink based e-readers are running android and it allows for more flexibility and long term development for app support then a closed SDK for Linux like most e-readers use.

Interesting comment, care to share some of the many android absed e-ink readers as I've not come across much more than (i believe it's android based) the Nook...

[juxtapose]

The Entourage Edge and Pocket Edge is Android, same with the Spring Design Alex.

[trekchick]

Originally Posted by elcreative

Interesting comment, care to share some of the many android absed e-ink readers as I've not come across much more than (i believe it's android based) the Nook...

Yes, Nook is Android based, and as juxtapose mentioned, both enTourage models ran on Android (originally shipped with Android 1.6). In addition, Gigabit and ASUS use Android in their e-Ink readers, and a handful of OEMs have demoed Android on e-Ink devices at trade shows. Amazon is rumored to have ordered touch-screen Triton e-Ink Android devices from Quanta (Google "Quanta Amazon e-ink" for reports). It's worth noting that Sony is partnered with Quanta for the S1/S2 Android tablets.

Nearly all current e-Ink e-book readers (including Sony, Kindle, and Kobo) run on Linux with a lot of customization and tweakage. Android, which is based on Linux, is "pre-tweaked" for nearly every issue specific to low-power consumption, battery-operated, flash memory based, connected, portable devices. With built-in features like push messaging, structured data storage, WebKit browsing, media support, multiple connectivity options, multi-select, multi-touch, plus excellent power and memory management (I'll stop here, but the list goes on and on.), Android's specialized kernel makes it an attractive choice for touch-screen e-book readers.

We should be careful not to confuse Android, the operating system, with the Android app-enabled device experience. Whichever OS Sony chooses for the next generation of PRS-readers, it's unlikely to be apparent to the user. After all, my current Sony readers do nothing to alert me to the fact that they're running Linux and until I rooted it, my Nook Touch didn't do anything to evoke thoughts of Android.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by juxtapose

I don't see why Nate slams that blog every chance he gets. I read both nates and the goodereader blog daily and find both are good sources of industry news. I lean towards goodereader because they have more authors writing for them, do audio and video almost daily and are less biased. No offense.

You don't know the whole history. I have an issue with them because:

• I caught them committing piracy,
• I caught them a second time after they swore they stopped the piracy,
• they have posted paid reviews/adverts in various places that attack me while praising them,
• they sent a letter to my webhost that accused me of libel,
• I suspect them of sock-puppetting a defense of their piracy in the comments of my blog,
• and because trolls from their site came around to eBookNewser and harassed me on the job.

EDIT: How can take the word of someone who has been caught lying? That would make them demonstrably untrustworthy, and that goes double for bloggers.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by Arrghus

Glad to see you've edited out your inflammatory attack on Nate.

Glad to see you recognize the difference between reflection and dishonesty, which is an important distinction. Imagine how much better the world might be if we could go back in time to rethink our least fair accusations.

Then again, old school SF used time travel to illustrate the ironies of self-revision. The point seems to be about determinism, but perhaps it's really about the inevitability of regret.

§§§§§§§§§§

Sony seems to be using Android on its tablets and other products it's developing. Why would its line of readers necessarily be an exception?

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Glad to see you recognize the difference between reflection and dishonesty, which is an important distinction. Imagine how much better the world might be if we could go back in time to rethink our least fair accusations.

Then again, old school SF used time travel to illustrate the ironies of self-revision. The point seems to be about determinism, but perhaps it's really about the inevitability of regret.

§§§§§§§§§§

Sony seems to be using Android on its tablets and other products it's developing. Why would its line of readers necessarily be an exception?

They're also using Windows on their PCs, so why not use it on the new Sony Reader? You can't beat the features or format support.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Arrghus

Why would the PRS-T1 need Android? How would Android work on a monochrome electronic ink display? How would it tap into app stores?

It's more probable that the OS/firmware of the current Sony Readers will be tweaked, rather than wholly replaced. The current firmware is stable. It's the software for loading books onto their devices that Sony (as always) needs to improve upon!

B&N's nook has always been Android based. So yes, it can be done and has been done.