New Chapter on Digital Reading (Sony)
 

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-...ag=mncol;title

As reported on CNET Crave....
Just got an invite to a Sony Reader event in New York on October 2. No word on whether this involves promoting Sony's existing second-generation electronic book reader, the Sony Reader Digital Book PRS-505, or whether Sony's going to tout some new capabilities for the current Reader as we head into the holiday buying season.

Either way it seems clear that Sony isn't quite ready to cede the e-book market to Amazon's Kindle. Sony's got the better design, but the wireless download capabilities of the Kindle clearly give it an advantage. Anybody wanna predict what Sony's next move is?

It´s already happening: go worldwide.

and after that maybe wifi ?

i'll be really interested to hear what they have to say. will you be attending this event ?

I must say I really don't think that Wireless is the solution. Worldwide distribution yes, and more books available yes. Wireless, wouldn't matter to me one bit, and actually would put me off due to the battery life.

I have owned a PRS-500 for a couple of years now and I do think that wireless or something comparable IS the solution. I will likely buy a Kindle by the end of the year if Sony doesn't find some way to get books onto their hardware without the use of a Window's PC. So while it wouldn't matter to you I know it matters to some but then I am only speaking for myself ;) The other possible solution is to make a decent piece of software for Macs. Porting the already lousy ebookstore software to Mac would not fill my needs in this area.

I have a Kindle and it works well. However, the Sony 505 does mount as a storage device on the Mac so you can transfer ebooks to it. Of course, you can't use the Sony store so you would have to get books from some other source/store.

BOb

Thanks Bob,

I use some of the alternatives to get books on the reader such as Calibre but I have a firm belief that the reader should function in what I would call its "native" environment. Its too bad that Sony leaves out a good portion of the computing public by not making their software cross platform or having a way to get books on the reader without using a computer at all.

I guess to get the topic back on track maybe this is one of the things that Sony will announce on October 2nd. What other things do people think might come out of this event?

Well, as a Mac user I would say that "good portion" isn't quite correct. I have heard estimates of 5% Mac penetration in the US. While that is a large number, it is a very small percentage. Also, Sony is limiting themselves to PC owners too.

They are not the only ones. I bought my Wife a Singer Embroidery machine last Christmas and it requires a computer to drive it. Guess what, windows only software.

Ah well... I am left handed too!

BOb

BTW: There is a rumor that Sony is working on a Mac version of their software. It was posted as a comment in the teleread blog. Not sure by whom.

The 100% unconfirmed and with no source rumor talks anout PRS-700 with WiFi and backlight.

As has been said about a million times before, you CANNOT "backlight" an eInk screen for the simple reason that it's completely opaque :).

And to move away from eInk would just be plain stupid :)

And WiFi ... hmmm, don't really see the point to it, since all that does is drain the battery really.

It's possible people are getting wifi confused with the wireless access Amazon provide with the Kindle.

Unless you're aware of some competing technology that I'm not, then yes, it would be stupid at the moment.

Correct: if going to the "over the air" option, the correct option would be - my personal opinion of course - to go with 3G.

That would fit correctly the "go worldwide" road Sony looks to be finaly taking.

MORE CONTENT! If Sony fails to deliver soon (I mean now!) on more ebooks for the Reader then I think they should just quit since I don't see much reason for people to buy one. Why would they when Amazon is much more likely to sell what they want to read?