Finally, new Sony rumors

[SkyDream]

Originally Posted by porkupan

I think if the "full clear touchscreen" is no fake, and if there is a WiFi connection in 650, these new readers are going to be a major hit.

Reading the news and details about the new PocketBook eReaders which will show up at IFA Berlin i doubt that.

Although i own a PRS-505 and PRS-900 and love both i'm quite interested in the PB 90x models. Sony must come up with a lot more to be the same level. There isn't still a word about a 8"/9"/10" reader from Sony.

[Ben Thornton]

Originally Posted by SkyDream

Reading the news and details about the new PocketBook eReaders which will show up at IFA Berlin i doubt that.

Although i own a PRS-505 and PRS-900 and love both i'm quite interested in the PB 90x models. Sony must come up with a lot more to be the same level. There isn't still a word about a 8"/9"/10" reader from Sony.

There isn't any word about these from Sony either

[Ziguezon]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

Thundering typhoons - you could be right

Hee hee... good one!

[porkupan]

Originally Posted by SkyDream

Reading the news and details about the new PocketBook eReaders which will show up at IFA Berlin i doubt that.

You seriously consider PocketBook a "Sony Reader killer"? I cannot see this happening at all, ever... I think PB is going to give it its best shot and then retreat into its familliar territory - free FB2 market.

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by jswinden

My main point is that Sony always takes a half-hearted approach with its readers. They don't seem to try very hard to sell them. When I bought my first Sony reader it was because I read about it here on MR. I had no idea that Sony had even released a reader. Kindle was all over the news and being discussed a lot. Sony just didn't have that great of a send off for their readers, and still doesn't. You have to fish around on their website just to find their readers. They did the same thing with their Clie line of PalmOS PDAs. The Clies were better than Palm's own PDAs, but Sony never really pushed them much and then dropped them when sales were low. Well duh, sales are going to be low if you don't push a product line.

I can vouch for the nx73v PDA as vastly superior to even PDA's of today in terms of build quality. Sure it does not have the power of the few modern PDA's that still exist, but my nx73v is still going strong, runs Mobireader software, runs BeCrossword so I can do my NYT xword when I want, works great in direct sun in reflective mode and even plays properly transcoded video extremely well, as good as any current media player in fact. And the case is built like a tank.

But like ya wrote Sony was simply not making enough of a profit so almost over night they shut down the PDA division. It wasn't that the devices were losing money but they were simply not making enough of a profit. This is a Sony trait and is interesting to me how long Sony is going to stay in the dedicated ereading device market. Only thing I see them doing is actually moving into the multi-function device market ala iPad's...this is not saying they are losing money on their ebook readers but those readers may not be generating enough profit for the folks in Japan to keep the division going.

Sony is like Apple in that they are a hardware company BUT where they differ is they have to rely on the software from a 3rd party which has never been something Sony has liked given their "not built here" business mindset. I often wonder if the reason they killed the PDA market was the need to pay Palm for their OS. Now Dell owns the WebOS so that is off the table for Sony as an option for a reader/multi-function device and who knows with Android...so I would not put much money on Sony readers in anything other than the very near term...no more then 3-years out.

That said, I sense Pocketbook is a company that makes great devices, is very open to 3rd party apps and has a wonderful core of folks around the globe. Plus their PB360 should be and example of how well done a pocket sized reader can be using existing tech. No $60 cover just to protect a display that should have a cover to begin with because it's known to be fragile, wonderful ergs and a nice solid OS with very good programmers behind it all.

So I see Pocketbook as a true challenger for the top three brands over the next few years. If nothing else they are a brand to watch very closely. Don't discount the fact that their roots are set in a culture that, despite years of oppression, was a very creative and entrepreneurial nature...in fact they are better at business than most of the so-called "free world"...

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

There isn't any word about these from Sony either

Hey Ben,

Just a bit OT...but, over all how do you like your PRS900? I haven't been able to find one to handle locally. I thought it would be a nice device for the two-up page layout...did that really work out OK in real use? My use would always be novels only...

Feel free to PM if this is too far OT for the thread...though I would enjoy seeing a similar device from Sony if it can work...but I was reluctant at the price they put on it initially so I grabbed my K2i for just $159 new from Amazon thanks to my Audible $100 credit...

[beespeckled]

It will be interesting to see their next gen EReaders.

I had decided today to get an A/C adapter for my Pocket Edition. This has been $29 most places, today it was marked down to $9. I was a happy camper. I noticed they had the Pocket Edition marked down to $139. This definitely sounds like new readers are coming soon.

[SkyDream]

Originally Posted by porkupan

You seriously consider PocketBook a "Sony Reader killer"? I cannot see this happening at all, ever... I think PB is going to give it its best shot and then retreat into its familliar territory - free FB2 market.

Why not ?
It may happen if Sony doesn't change their current direction.
Sure, we do not know what Sony comes up within the next 6 months.
And i haven't seen the new PB devices i real life.
Not to say checked them as i did with my PRS-505 and PRS-900.

Sony as a company doesn't seem to like their PRS customers as they don't speak or listen to them. It requires 3rd party FW to get more out of 505/900. Whereas PB constantly enhances the FW by themself and speak to customers.

If Sony stands up i think there's no chance for PB but it seems they don't want to.

Let's wait and see what happens 'til christmas.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

I'll be sold if the price is around the $139-150 mark. If Sony tries to do like what they did with the 600 in Canada and sell it for $299 (or was it $349?) then forget it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

I'll be sold if the price is around the $139-150 mark. If Sony tries to do like what they did with the 600 in Canada and sell it for $299 (or was it $349?) then forget it.

One of the things the new rumor is saying is an attractive price. $299 is not attractive at all. for a 6" reader.

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by OrcaBlue

I think the reason is that when the ereader business just started, it was just a snitch sector. There was very few people interested in them. It's the earlier adopters like people on MR and earlier manufacturers like Sony and IREX that slowly build the market. No one know that ereader business would grow to where it is today. Hence, Sony decided that it would concentrate on other sectors like PS3, LCD TV, Digital Camera, VAIO Laptop, MP3 players, and Camcorder.

The reason the ereader business started was because the leaders at the time had a dramatic vision: electronic delivery and presentation of digital texts creating a new industry out of an existing business ecosystem that supplied texts only on paper. They saw what happened with music and video and noticed books were still analogue. What an opportunity!

It was, and it is. Sony showed real leadership and guts and created the 5" and 6" models (505, 300, 600) for broad worldwide distribution (the 700 and 900 series were never sold in Canada; were they sold outside of the US?). They created a credible Internationally accessible ebookstore a year before Amazon entered the market. At the (open air) Toronto Book Fair in 2008 they had an enormous booth showing off their device at a couple of dozen stations with well-trained demonstrators. This reached a core market of genuine book readers.

But sometime after Amazon arrived, and truly legitimized the ereader experience (building on Sony's momentum), Sony management paused. They had two huge battles on their hands: establishing Blu-ray as the new HD standard and ensuring PS3 maintained its market position. By contast, ereaders were small fry and management clearly pulled support. They coasted instead of leading. Let's face it: Kindle 1 was not a Sony killer.

Assuming the latest rumours are roughly on track, these are minor refreshes: it's too little, too late. The silence on larger format readers is also striking. And then there is Sony's disinterest in the mobile phone and computing markets (Blackberry, Android, iPhone, iPad); even the late arriving Kobo supports these environments.

Sony is expected to make a formal announcements at the end of the month. To stay competitive, they will need to do much more than these leaks imply.

[igorsk]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

Sony is expected to make a formal announcements at the end of the month. To stay competitive, they will need to do much more than these leaks imply.

How about this?

SAN DIEGO – May 27, 2010 Sony today announced it is preparing to make its Reader digital book available in several new markets. Plans include availability in new Asia/Pacific markets this year, including Japan, China and Australia, as well as further European expansion to encompass countries such as Italy and Spain. In each country Sony intends to leverage its relationships with local retailers, publishers and distributors to introduce the Reader along with a host of local content to help ensure the best possible reading experience.
[...]
Sony will announce general availability, local pricing and pre-order dates for the Reader in Japan, China, Australia, Spain and Italy at a later date.

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by igorsk

How about this?

Yes, it's good that they will release in new markets. But that release says nothing about new hardware or hint at how this grows share in its existing markets. This release is exactly the sort of evidence that points to coasting, not innovating and not competing if it intends to "win".

From the May 2010 press release:

The Reader’s seamless integration with Sony’s Reader Store recently enabled Sony to reach the 10 million eBook download milestone,

Does that sound a bit anemic -- 10 million downloads over four years -- when Amazon announces 1 million ebook sales of a single author?

[Ben Thornton]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

Hey Ben,

Just a bit OT...but, over all how do you like your PRS900? I haven't been able to find one to handle locally. I thought it would be a nice device for the two-up page layout...did that really work out OK in real use? My use would always be novels only...

Feel free to PM if this is too far OT for the thread...though I would enjoy seeing a similar device from Sony if it can work...but I was reluctant at the price they put on it initially so I grabbed my K2i for just $159 new from Amazon thanks to my Audible $100 credit...

No more off topic than half the stuff that gets posted, I expect.

Anyway, my PRS-900 micro-review:

Pros:
- build quality excellent
- comfortable to use
- good balance of physical size vs. text on the screen from my POV
- reliably handles lots of formats
- doesn't crash in my experience - reliable
Cons:
- screen glare and mugginess in some situations
-- some people make too much of this, I feel, but it is a real issue
- no reliable access to Amazon content

Specifically, on the 2 page view, I never use this because to fit enough text on you need to make it smaller than is comfortable for me.

Although I'm capable of stripping DRM and format shifting, and have done some lower level fiddling with the files, partly out of interest and partly to fix formatting, I've had a number of problems with getting a pleasant-to-read, complete file out the other end. There is also no guarantee that it will continue to work (they could lock down their content better - it wouldn't be hard).

Once Amazon.co.uk opened up a local store, and the K3 was released with the new screens - and at a price point little over £100 - it was a no brainer for me to order one. I've had lots of issues getting access to content and converting etc., while I just want to read.

The form factor of the PRS-900 is ideal for me. If I could get that with access to Amazon's content (or if someone else offered the same breadth and pricing) and a better screen, then I'd stick with Sony. Given the realities of access to content from the UK, however, I've ordered a K3.

The solution for me in the longer term may well be a midi (7"/9") tablet of some sort that runs both the Kindle app and something to read ePubs (as the iPad does), but with a better screen technology for reading than is currently available.

Was it you that was talking elsewhere about reading in the sun a lot? If so, the mugginess probably won't be a factor, but the glare might be. Ideally, I'd advise getting one that you can take back. In the UK, Argos would suit for that, but from where you are, that would be a long trip!

[JSWolf]

Sorry, but your con about no reliable access to Amazon content is NOT a con.