Possible new Sony ereader with Glo

[uboot]

Hm..... from http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/201...e-orders-live/ one might conclude that the T3 features

E Ink’s new upcoming screen tech that is supposed to be an upgrade from Pearl

But maybe, someone means Amazon, not Sony....

[rjcroy]

Originally Posted by uboot

Hm..... from http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/201...e-orders-live/ one might conclude that the T3 features

But maybe, someone means Amazon, not Sony....

But given Sony's use of E-ink's newest screen in their A4 Mobius model I would say the money would be on Sony having the temporary exclusive contract.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by alvina

That seems to be the reason why Sony is including a lightweight cover now.

An included cover is something of a high value for a normal customer when he buys an E-Reader in a store or a bookshop. Some E-Readers don't have covers at all, and some companies charge 30-50 Euros for it.

People that buy an E-Readers in a bookshop have different priorities than people that visit internet forums about gadgets on a daily basis. I'm quite sure Sony has done some research about this and personally I think they're doing right with the T3.

Are you sure Sony is including the case in the price, with a light? That would make it a much more attractive proposition.

[alvina]

Right now nothing is sure. There's a lot of speculation going on. But I think 130-150 Euros for a T3 including a cover and excluding any integrated shoping centre à la Kobo-Amazon would be a fair price and a good product.

[Ripplinger]

As alvina said, until Sony makes the official announcement, I'm taking everything I read about the reader with a grain of salt.

But this Digital Reader review mentions the included cover with a built-in light a few times. I tend to think this is correct since there would no other explanation for a heavier reader over last year's model.

[Rizla]

The site listed the e-reader and lighted case as two separate items:

http://www.buchhaus.ch/start/detail/...rz-PRST3BC.CE7

http://www.buchhaus.ch/detail/ISBN-4...-Reader-PRS-T3

It has long been a practice of all the big players to charge an exorbitant price for a mass-produced bit of plastic called a case that costs pennies to make. I can't see Sony giving up the practice.

The increased weight is an interesting fact, but I don't think the price includes a case, lighted or otherwise.

[Ripplinger]

All those links to the various outlets that had it listed are now showing 404s for me. My guess is Sony made them take it down for now.

So again, everything is really speculation at this point from what we've been able to catch from a few reviews and initial retailer listings. We'll just have to wait and see when Sony finally announces it.

But I still can't believe that they would charge so much more for a reader without a built-in light and without a cover, and that they would make it heavier than any other reader on the market and still expect you to pay that much more for it.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

All those links to the various outlets that had it listed are now showing 404s for me. My guess is Sony made them take it down for now.

So again, everything is really speculation at this point from what we've been able to catch from a few reviews and initial retailer listings. We'll just have to wait and see when Sony finally announces it.

But I still can't believe that they would charge so much more for a reader without a built-in light and without a cover, and that they would make it heavier than any other reader on the market and still expect you to pay that much more for it.

I think only Euro prices were quoted. It will be cheaper in the USA. I can thoroughly believe Sony will charge that much for an e-reader without a case, and indeed, there is evidence the two products are to be sold separately. The links are now 404s, but the title of the links make the content clear. One links to the e-reader, the other links to the lighted case. Two separate products.

But yeah, Sony is totally whack. They make me laugh.

[Ripplinger]

I've read in several places that September 4th will be the official announcement from Sony. So we have less than a week to wait for all our inquiring minds to be satisfied (or not satisfied depending on the announcement ).

[hwlester]

Originally Posted by Rizla

But yeah, Sony is totally whack. They make me laugh.

Yeah, I still remember when B&N and Amazon were slashing the prices of their readers (about the time the T1 came out I think), one of the execs was quoted saying something along the lines that Sony competed on quality, not on price. I agree they're well built and have fewer issues than some, but that's still pretty arrogant. :P

[Ripplinger]

Arrogant or not, when I compare my old 350s to the current Kobo Glo I have, yes, I'm willing to pay more for the 350s. They're just rock solid, no problems, and perform as they should.

If only they had a front light... /cry

[AnotherCat]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

I disagree, I think the front-lit ereaders are here to stay and will keep improving. If you read outdoors at all, all the fancy tablets and PDAs and phones are 100% useless in the sun...

...But that there's just no way to read from a back-lit device outdoors in bright light means that front-lit ereaders will be around for a long long time for those who like to read everywhere.

Those are sweeping and incorrect statements and totally ignoring of the fact that technologies, including screen ones, are advancing very fast.

Despite your claim, bright sunlight readable non E Ink screens have been around for quite some while. As one example, my phone works perfectly in bright sunlight and indeed automatically adapts itself to the ambient light level from bright sunlight to pitch dark; in fact I have read books on it in bright sunlight. Admittedly it was an expensive and technologically advanced phone (not an Android phone aimed at the masses) when it was first released, but that was 3 years ago, so old.

There is also the likelihood that E Ink becomes colour capable, but the moment it does so, and should that technology be superior to alternative screen technologies at that time, they will be quickly presented as small tabs with the added functionality that those devices have over a dedicated reader and which functionality is dependant on colour (applications, images/video). It is small colour, tablets I presented as being the near future (in fact arriving now) and killing the lit greyscale E Ink market.

Of course, if colour E Ink turns out to be inferior to other screen technologies, then it will not suceed. So the future for lit devices is almost certainly in small tabs, whichever way one looks at it, old greyscale lit readers are just a short-lived passing phase; certainly my next reader will be a tab (and as I have said, I have over a decade of reading on small colour devices).

You mention colour as only being necessary if one reads magazines (in fact, as magazines are mostly pdfs and are of complex page layout they are not an easy reading experience on ANY small device). I can assure you that most who read illustrated non-fiction (whether popular or technical/scientific), and even many trade paperbacks on a colour capable device will disagree with you. There are also comics, which have a very large following. Much fiction (especially literature and children's/young person's) includes colour illustrations; in fact there are many examples of such in the Patricia Clark Library on this web site. Colour is also far superior in low light conditions than lit greyscale E Ink due to the near infinite control of the display (including use of colour: for myself, and I know for many others, a light sand or similar background tint when reading lit under low ambient light conditions makes for more pleasant reading than greyscale does).

Of course if one just reads popular skim through and throw away mass-market paperback novels then ones tastes are probably of a limited nature anyway, so greyscale E Ink is satisfactory; but such would give a more realistic reading experience if it could mimic the trashy paper that mass-market paperback is printed on . Though it would seem to me that the likes of Mills & Boone would, for the sake of their interesting colour covers, be better on a colour capable device.

Anyway, it seems that it is sacrilege to suggest that there are technology paths superior to lit grey scale E Ink (or even to suggest that unlit E Ink presents an equal or better reading experience), or that any reader manufacturer who doesn't go down the lit greyscale road is not doomed to oblivion, so I will leave it all at that.

[Ripplinger]

I have to ask what phone you have then? Honestly I'd be thrilled to see screens as readable in sun as e-ink. But so far I've yet to see one for myself.

If the end result means paying 3x as much for a tablet that's readable in the sun, I'll gladly stick to e-ink though. I really don't have any need for color display.

[AnotherCat]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

..If the end result means paying 3x as much for a tablet that's readable in the sun...

...I really don't have any need for color display.

I really don't want to preserver with this as I can see it is a road to nowhere, but there is no way that a basic tab (e.g. without cameras, phone) with a good screen will cost anymore than a lit E Ink device.

And in the end, your not needing a colour display will not stand in the way of the advance of technology .

Leave you to it.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

Arrogant or not, when I compare my old 350s to the current Kobo Glo I have, yes, I'm willing to pay more for the 350s. They're just rock solid, no problems, and perform as they should.

If only they had a front light... /cry

Yeah, the x50s are a thing of quality. But I'm not sure a front-light is quite grail we are making it to be. Maybe most people find it impossible to use in total darkness, so you still need a light anyway. Maybe we're so fixated on it because we don't have it, dammit!