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Since it was almost a year between the announcement of the Sony Reader and the first retail sales of the Sony Reader and given that there has been no announcement of a subsequent version of the Sony Reader, I would not expect a new version in the near future (defined as this summer and fall.)
There are stories of a second firmware update coming in the next month or so for the existing unit. Since the basic functions are well established it seems the major purpose of the update is to fix problems from the last update (such as the battery meter) and perhaps to add additional functionality (hopefully) such as collections on the add-in memory card and maybe to extend the useful range of SD cards beyond 2 GB. Adobe Digital Editions has recently been released for a Windows environment and they say a Linux version should be in beta by the end of the year. I would be surprised if that was in the next update if the stated timing is correct.
There have been changes in the Sony CONNECT store organization and the book group seems to be the only one surviving. They have been adding additional ebooks since the beginning but they still have a problem in setting some of their prices at or below Amazon for the same titles.
Therefore I don't see an advantage for Sony to release a new version of the Reader at this time. Once more of the support pieces are in place and their engineers have something more to offer than just a Vizplex enhancement we might see a new version.
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