Sony Reader PRS-505 - MobileRead's Conference Call with Sony - Page 4

NatCh · 10-02-2007, 12:55 PM

I hadn't thought about the implications of the sync folder on RSS feeds ... that is downright dandy!

drgnbear · 10-02-2007, 12:59 PM

Well I did it. Bought yet a 3rd reader LOL. Looks like some people are going to get my old ones for christmas.

kovidgoyal · 10-02-2007, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatCh

I hadn't thought about the implications of the sync folder on RSS feeds ... that is downright dandy!

You can do that already with the 500, I think feedbooks has a script for syncing based on libprs500

cjschmidt · 10-02-2007, 02:23 PM

Now if only the 18th would hurry and get here so I can compare the 505 to the Kindle and make a decision. (I'm leaning towards the 505 now) If they had announced the Borders online store deal, I would have bought one this morning.

yvanleterrible · 10-02-2007, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigumpah

Yvan this hurdle, does it apply for only Quebec or the rest of Canada?

Vincent

Anything sold in Canada has to be in both official languages, whatever it is, that's the law. I was only speculating about that hurdle because I know how finicky the French literary world is here. Sorry 'bout that!

NatCh · 10-02-2007, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjschmidt

If they had announced the Borders online store deal, I would have bought one this morning.

I'm not sure what you mean, cjschmidt ... they've announced that there will be a Borders/Sony collaborative store a couple of weeks ago -- do you mean that you were hoping to know the details of how it will work, then?

cjschmidt · 10-02-2007, 05:31 PM

I know about the store, I'd just like to know if there will be any surprises to come out of the deal. Assuming the new Borders beta page is pretty much what we'll see when is rolls out, I'm fairly confident in going ahead with the Sony. I just want to know that Sony and Borders are serious about competing with the Kindle and Amazon. The Sony Connect Store is functional and stocked well enough, but can it really compare to Amazon or iTunes? If I could log on to Borders right now and see the store, know whether it needs a plugin, or if I just download a file (Will it work on a Mac), things like that, I'd buy it in an instant. I've just been burnt too many times by "announced" and "in the near future".

igorsk · 10-02-2007, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xenophon

Will they support the "reading as" meta-data in that sorting (or whatever the heck its real name is)? It's there in the spec of the lrf files. The PRS500 accepts it, but doesn't use it to affect the sorting. It'd be truly super if the new firmware honored the field.

The attribute is called "reading". I'm pretty sure PRS-500 already supports it, all Connect books have it filled in as "Lastname, Firstname".

NatCh · 10-02-2007, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjschmidt

I know about the store, I'd just like to know if there will be any surprises to come out of the deal. Assuming the new Borders beta page is pretty much what we'll see when is rolls out, I'm fairly confident in going ahead with the Sony. I just want to know that Sony and Borders are serious about competing with the Kindle and Amazon. The Sony Connect Store is functional and stocked well enough, but can it really compare to Amazon or iTunes? If I could log on to Borders right now and see the store, know whether it needs a plugin, or if I just download a file (Will it work on a Mac), things like that, I'd buy it in an instant. I've just been burnt too many times by "announced" and "in the near future".

Ah, Now I see what you're getting at, and I think it's a valid point.

I can't really say I know a great deal on the matter ('cause I don't) but I do know a few bits from here and there. The Sony Store has doubled in size in a year, and they certainly seemed serious enough about competing in the market. I'd expect that the Borders store will have some sort of mechanism for managing the DRM on the books, but I don't know if it's going to depend on a downloaded app, or not, nor do I know if they plan to make it more than just WinOS supported, I get the impression that they're still working out the details there.

On the other side, I expect that Kindle will launch with more or less the listings that Mobipocket has now (since Amazon owns them, for anyone reading this who doesn't know) which is about 40k titles (roughly double Connect's holdings, but Mobi has been at it for 7 years to ConnStore's 1). We also have absolutely zip on details of how Amazon intends to structure its e-book business. We know that the Kindle is supposed to be ~$400, that it's supposed to launch in 13 days, and that it was really ugly a year ago -- but we don't even know what it currently looks like.

So, yeah, if you want certainty on what to expect of e-book stores, now is not a happy time for you.

monkeywrench · 10-02-2007, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatCh

I'd expect that the Borders store will have some sort of mechanism for managing the DRM on the books, but I don't know if it's going to depend on a downloaded app, or not, nor do I know if they plan to make it more than just WinOS supported, I get the impression that they're still working out the details there.

Support for Mac is the one feature that I was really hoping for with the new library software. I have emailed Sony several times about this and I see a lot of people on MobileRead asking for Support on Macs. I probably won't buy one of the new readers as it is pretty close to perfect for my needs but it really is a downer to have to use a Windows PC to download books from ConnSoft.

BobVA · 10-02-2007, 09:51 PM

Thanks for the write up, NatCh! It certainly raised almost as many questions as it answered, at least for me. Such as:
- Their reaction to the future of the 500 firmware makes me I wonder if the hardware or core OS functions on the 505 are so different that this isn't a "no brainer", but requires a significant effort to port/rewrite. That means $$$, which would fit with their careful response.
- I'm surprised there's not much speculation about the new display, or has that been hashed out somewhere else on MR? I believe I recall somebody saying that it was only an incremental improvement in contrast (i.e. not likely a reason to toss the old one)? The gray level increase isn't really important to me, but it will be interesting to hear what manga fans think.
- I wonder if there's any DRM-related hardware limitations (e.g. security modules, etc.) that make epub a non-starter on the 500? (I also wonder if the mobile version is far enough along to tell?)

Again, thanks for the scoop!

Regards,
Bob

Steven Lyle Jordan · 10-02-2007, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob_ninja

Really??? Canadians are avid readers. If we can afford to pay thousands of dollars for stupid TVs then why would $300 be a problem????

Relax, Bob... I didn't say the U.S. was the "only country" that could afford them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob_ninja

I don't see the complexity in packaging a PRS box and shipping it elsewhere. I bought and got support from other US firms like iRobot, all using web and shipping items to/from US. No problems. This device is so small, shipping costs would be minimal.

I don't see it either, which is why I'm assuming that they simply declared the U.S. their "test market" before they do a full rollout.

wallcraft · 10-02-2007, 10:15 PM

The most likely technical reasons to support Adobe DE only on the new device are an upgraded cpu or more system memory, but I don't see any indication of either one. It does have a brand new display controller, but that should not matter.

The other possibility is licensing. That is why some N800 software isn't available for the Nokia 770, for example.

BobVA · 10-02-2007, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

The other possibility is licensing. That is why some N800 software isn't available for the Nokia 770, for example.

Mmmph - good point. If Sony has to license a copy for all the extant 500's, or even just those that download new firmware, I'm sure that would be a significant cost concern.

Xenophon · 10-02-2007, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by igorsk

The attribute is called "reading". I'm pretty sure PRS-500 already supports it, all Connect books have it filled in as "Lastname, Firstname".

Yes they do. But when you go to the 'By Author' view on the PRS-500 all the books are sorted by the first letter of the author's name. They accept it, but they don't follow it.

Xenophon

10-02-2007, 05:31 PM	#52
cjschmidt Thyme Lord Posts: 39 Karma: 118 Join Date: Oct 2007 Device: PRS-505	I know about the store, I'd just like to know if there will be any surprises to come out of the deal. Assuming the new Borders beta page is pretty much what we'll see when is rolls out, I'm fairly confident in going ahead with the Sony. I just want to know that Sony and Borders are serious about competing with the Kindle and Amazon. The Sony Connect Store is functional and stocked well enough, but can it really compare to Amazon or iTunes? If I could log on to Borders right now and see the store, know whether it needs a plugin, or if I just download a file (Will it work on a Mac), things like that, I'd buy it in an instant. I've just been burnt too many times by "announced" and "in the near future". Last edited by cjschmidt; 10-02-2007 at 05:36 PM.

10-02-2007, 09:51 PM	#56
BobVA Addict Posts: 230 Karma: 1500 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: Kobo Clara, Sony PRS950, T1, T2, T3	Thanks for the write up, NatCh! It certainly raised almost as many questions as it answered, at least for me. Such as: - Their reaction to the future of the 500 firmware makes me I wonder if the hardware or core OS functions on the 505 are so different that this isn't a "no brainer", but requires a significant effort to port/rewrite. That means $$$, which would fit with their careful response. - I'm surprised there's not much speculation about the new display, or has that been hashed out somewhere else on MR? I believe I recall somebody saying that it was only an incremental improvement in contrast (i.e. not likely a reason to toss the old one)? The gray level increase isn't really important to me, but it will be interesting to hear what manga fans think. - I wonder if there's any DRM-related hardware limitations (e.g. security modules, etc.) that make epub a non-starter on the 500? (I also wonder if the mobile version is far enough along to tell?) Again, thanks for the scoop! Regards, Bob Last edited by BobVA; 10-02-2007 at 10:07 PM.

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10-02-2007, 12:55 PM	#46
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	I hadn't thought about the implications of the sync folder on RSS feeds ... that is downright dandy!

10-02-2007, 12:59 PM	#47
drgnbear Evil alien overlord. Posts: 57 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2007 Device: Kindle	Well I did it. Bought yet a 3rd reader LOL. Looks like some people are going to get my old ones for christmas.

10-02-2007, 02:23 PM	#49
cjschmidt Thyme Lord Posts: 39 Karma: 118 Join Date: Oct 2007 Device: PRS-505	Now if only the 18th would hurry and get here so I can compare the 505 to the Kindle and make a decision. (I'm leaning towards the 505 now) If they had announced the Borders online store deal, I would have bought one this morning.

10-02-2007, 10:15 PM	#58
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,977 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	The most likely technical reasons to support Adobe DE only on the new device are an upgraded cpu or more system memory, but I don't see any indication of either one. It does have a brand new display controller, but that should not matter. The other possibility is licensing. That is why some N800 software isn't available for the Nokia 770, for example.