Quote:
Originally Posted by fjtorres
Essentially, the new firmware seems to turn the Hanlin readers into Sony clones, give or take an extra document format or three.
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Yes, although there are not a lot of choices for DRM.
Amazon has banned MOBI DRM from any EInk ebook reader sold in volume in the US, and won't allow a 2nd DRMed format on the same EInk device even outside the US. They are also preventing MOBI from appearing on new device types. MOBI also appears to be dead in Europe, which is why most new reading device designs are running Adobe Digital Editions.
Sony was the first to support Adobe Digital Editions but it isn't Sony-specific and it is going to be interesting to see how far behind the curve Sony's year-old version is. The new versions of mobile ADE should support Mac's for example, because the lack of Mac support was a Sony issue (not an Adobe issue). I don't like the "publisher is always right about layout" philosophy behind ADE, but it is a serious ebook reader.
The dark horse is eReader. This isn't the best format for 5" and above screens, but Barnes and Noble (eReader) is competing directly with Amazon (Kindle) on price. It isn't yet clear how different B&N's strategy will be from FictionWise's original strategy of trying to get eReader on many more device types. At a minimum, in the US Astak will apparently be able to support both eReader and Adobe DRM on all their devices.