I'm not sure where to post this, or whether it already has been mentioned in one of the several hundred posts on the new Sony Readers--if so my apologies.

Yesterday I pre-ordered a new Sony PRS-600BC. I have never ordered directly from Sony before, so I'm not sure what their standard procedures are. However, most companies that allow you to pre-order an item, or even order a stocked item, usually do not bill your credit card until the order is processed and ready to ship. I noticed that Sony has already billed my credit card. I'm not sure if this means anything, but it might mean that they are confident the Reader will ship soon. Or it could just be the way they do business--bill now, ship item sometime in the undetermined future.

I've not yet received the promised email from Sony about the Reader being available, so I suspect they are billing early.