Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemurion
A single international model does make sense - but that doesn't mean Sony will do that. They could use a tri-band HSDPA chip, but they may stick with US frequencies for reasons we don't know yet.
|
Well, Sony for a change seems to have considered the international Market, So Going US only for such an important feature (especially as kindle is No where in sight outside the US) which would allow it to steal a march on Amazon, seems unlikely
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crowl
Having an american model and an international model would actually suit sony better, it reduces the liklihood of grey imports, it reduces costs per unit slightly (singleband cheaper than triband) and at the same time it would slightly increase battery life since the radio would only ever have to scan the one frequency band if it ever lost coverage.
As far as the logistics, switching production between the two versions would be very simple since it was only the one component and depending on how they are setup, the same production lines might be used for both the 300 and 600 as well and those would certainly need more changes for their batches.
|
Perhaps, But as its going to be tied to a Cell Network for service, its going to reduce grey market imports, as if you want the wireless support you need the local sim. (Apples done Something similar, with a single International model, with profiles for its different carriers.
As for Battery Life, you could easily have the Firmware check the SIM, and based on which network it uses just use those bands. IMHO changing software, or just changing Profiles in the Software is a lot easier then changing components. And while e-Books are a growing market, They are still no were near the numbers for Computer or MP3 Players, so having to Tie up capital in assets for a specific region, without being able to redirect as per demand does not make sense.