3 New Sony Readers announced today, apps coming this fall

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by ManosHandsOfFate

This worries me:

"Sony says the screens are highly responsive yet we didn't find this when trying to select a book or other item on the screen."

Engadget and one other site (can't remember, PC Mag?) said the opposite. The new devices were extremely responsive to touch. One even described it as "very fast." Engadget had access to the Readers a few days before the official announce, and played with them and took pictures.

-Pie

[EricDP]

Originally Posted by Salgueiros

"zForce™ is the name of Neonode’s proprietary patented touch screen technology.

A selection of advantages with zForce:
...
Low power

Note that it doesn't say 'no power' like a resistive screen.

zForceTM uses a small frame around the display with LEDs and photoreceptors on the opposites sides hidden behind a infrared-transparent bezel.

Ah, so there's the power drain. And that means it must have these infra-red LEDs lit any time the screen is active, which will definitely use power. Alternatively, it could shut them off, but, if so, then what triggers them to come on again? Do you have to push a fixed button?

I can't wait to see real-world battery life on these things.

[hamfitz]

does anyone know if these readers will support different fonts? I don't really like the font I see in the pics of the reader. I didn't see any mention of it in the product details

[mobilewilier]

will the Sony official covers for the PRS-600 fit the PRS-650?

[millydog]

The new readers look great to me. I would like a 650, but my plan is to look after my 8yo daughter first. I think that I will get her a pink 350 for either her birthday (in December) or Christmas. My daughter has a medical condition that means she is behind her peers with her reading skill level. She is still progressing though & I am pleased with her progress. She is interested in my gadgets & I think that a 350 would be the perfect device to help her develop her reading skills.
I am actually happy that the 350 is not a connected device since then I don't have to worry about her buying books om-line without my knowledge. Lol
However, the ability to buy on-line directly on my Kindle 2 is my reason for currently favoring that reader. My husband is currently using my 505 & I do miss it though, but I can't be too greedy, i will let him use it for now since I am using the Kindle 2 at the moment.
My husband likes the 505 & I am also considering getting him a black 650 for Christmas.
So then, three of us will have Sony Readers & I will have a Kindle 2 as well. My other daughter is 4 & not reading yet, so she can wait. Lol. However, the dilemma that I feel that I have is that I will be split with reading devices requiring different DRM. I cannot buy Kindle devices, read the book & then put it on the Sony Reader for my husband.....so I feel like I should give up the Kindle so as we can share books, but then the ebooks in Australian on-line stores are still too expensive. Amazon books are about a third of the price in many cases. So that is my dilemma, what to do going forward & where to buy my books. It would be so nice to not have to worry about the DRM so as we could buy the most cost effective or best formatted version & then each use our reader of choice.

Anyway, one other good thing about Sony finally releasing their Readers here in Australia is that I hope I can then change my location to Australia & be able to buy books from Sony, rather than having to buy vouchers to spend.

[charleski]

Originally Posted by Salgueiros

"A touch obstructs one or more of the beams which identifies the X and Y coordinates which also give area information. Interpolation combined with analogue signal processing give multiple touch readings and high speed gesture feedback."

The one thing I worry about is resolution - how accurate will these touchscreens be? I'm certainly hoping that the widely-spaced meshes shown in their videos are merely for demonstration purposes. Luckily these will be sold in shops so this can be tested before buying.

[Richey79]

+ Multi-language dictionaries.
+ Better screen, hopefully less glare. Contrast options are interesting.

= Advertised 'more responsive screen/processor' doesn't convince me yet.
= I'm betting they still have screen-layers that are prone to collecting dust, hairs etc.
= Sony's previous touch-screens were great for accuracy (just took the processor a moment to catch up with the screen), either with fingers or stylus. Hope the changes haven't had a negative effect on these qualities.

- Only USB charging!? Sony really make some crazy decisions. Recharging this way takes far longer; you can't use the device during charging, and in my experience the battery doesn't fully charge using this method. Plus, if the computer goes to 'sleep' mode, the battery is rapidly drained to empty. Yuck!
- No firmware upgrade for the old models to give fully-justified Epub? No, Sony, this won't make me run out and buy an updated model. It's far more likely to make me navigate to Amazon.co.uk.
- I agree that the new method of listing files on the device sounds unhelpful to me. I'm sure there'll be a decent search option, but this seems to be an attempt by Sony to be fashionable, which I think is a bit wet, frankly.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by Richey79

- Only USB charging!? Sony really make some crazy decisions. Recharging this way takes far longer; you can't use the device during charging, and in my experience the battery doesn't fully charge using this method. Plus, if the computer goes to 'sleep' mode, the battery is rapidly drained to empty. Yuck!

Both my Gen 3 and 511EB devices can get a full charge from a USB port, and can also charge quickly and completely from a USB charger plugged into the mains. If Bookeen and Elonex can do it, I can't see why Sony shouldn't be able to make it work.

Graham

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by Richey79

- Only USB charging!? Sony really make some crazy decisions. Recharging this way takes far longer; you can't use the device during charging, and in my experience the battery doesn't fully charge using this method. Plus, if the computer goes to 'sleep' mode, the battery is rapidly drained to empty.

I've never used anything other than charging over USB.

[hieu01clc]

Originally Posted by Richey79

+ Multi-language dictionaries.

Sony Reader come with 12 dictionaries in various languages. So is it has a unicode font ?

I have read some article and know that Sony Reader doesn't support wifi and 3G because of playing for the globe
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/sonys-...strategy/38626

So I wonder whether it's has unicode font.

Thank you for your reply. It's my first post, sorry for my English.

[jj2me]

Originally Posted by charleski

The one thing I worry about is resolution - how accurate will these touchscreens be? I'm certainly hoping that the widely-spaced meshes shown in their videos are merely for demonstration purposes.

And this from the 350 manual doesn't inspire confidence, although it may be just boilerplate CYA:

"If you experience difficulties when handwriting or drawing on your Reader:
– avoid applying excessive pressure to the screen.
– try not to handwrite or draw too quickly.
– the notes functionality is not designed for very detailed drawings or for writing small characters."

[igorsk]

Originally Posted by Richey79

- Only USB charging!? Sony really make some crazy decisions. Recharging this way takes far longer; you can't use the device during charging, and in my experience the battery doesn't fully charge using this method. Plus, if the computer goes to 'sleep' mode, the battery is rapidly drained to empty. Yuck!

It will work with dedicated USB chargers (unlike the 2009 models). Also, manual says 3h to charger from computer, I don't think it's that long.

Originally Posted by hieu01clc

Sony Reader come with 12 dictionaries in various languages. So is it has a unicode font ?

Alas, all languages listed use Western character set. So it's likely the same old three.

[maxbookworm]

Originally Posted by mobilewilier

will the Sony official covers for the PRS-600 fit the PRS-650?

The 650 is about a 1/3" shorter than the 600. Although that doesn't sound like much, it probably means the case won't fit well. Too bad because I don't really care for the new cases.

[worxland]

Does anyone have pictures with a 505 beside one of these new ones so we could compare picture quality (contrast, readability)? It would help me to decide whether I want one or not.

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by Richey79

+ Multi-language dictionaries.
+ Better screen, hopefully less glare. Contrast options are interesting.

= Advertised 'more responsive screen/processor' doesn't convince me yet.

What processors are they using? I've been looking at specs, and haven't found a single listing. I want to know how much faster these are going to be in terms of CPU compared to the PRS-600. Especially if the PRS-350 will compare.

The benchmark for me remains The NIV Bible (from the Reader store). It's huge, and it literally kills the reader when opening or selecting a chapter. Even the PRS-600 sometimes gives the "spin" wheel on NIV Bible when you're in a book (say Matthew) and select a Chapter (say 12).

However, on the PRS-500, the Bible was virtually unusable. The PRS-600 makes it a possibility, but I can still find a random Book/Chapter faster than the PRS-600 with just page flopping in a paper Bible!

-Pie