new model rumour

[Nate the great]

One benefit of Wifi:

Wifi + browser + Epub == support for Feedbooks self downloading RSS based Newspapers

[Peto]

Multiple reasons.

It will eat battery (when connected or when forgotten connected),eat room inside (I guess), adds weight, add something that you don't really need to read but that can malfunction and prevent you from reading, and give arguments for buying it that deviate your attention from what it actually is for: Reading.

If I could subtract all the soft and hard (if any) needed for the mp3, I would. All I get from it is a hole for dust to get into my reader.

I can understand that people that download rss feeds daily can find it useful, but I just read books. I don't even need the Card slots (except for hacking, though I suppose our magicians would have found a way to hack from the pc), because I don't need to have over 190 Mb in books with myself all the time (Manga guys do, not me). I normally handle about ten books, which include the fiction book I am reading, the following two or three and the 4-5 non fiction I am reading at the same time depending on my state of mind. The reader can increase that like 10 times without a card.

I think many people confound collecting tons of books with actually reading and they are always looking for the books they don't have. I look for them too, but I am in no hurry. I chose carefully and right now I have in my PC books to pick from till next year. I will be on holidays for two weeks and I do not intend to spend my time abroad reading at all. I'll read in my spare time, but for that I have enough with 10% of the internal memory of the reader.

What I want is better contrast, faster page turns, easier font modification, longer battery life and full image-table support for non fiction. And of course, MORE Non fiction books available. Color would be nice. And I want it cheaper.

Wifi? mp3? Games? No thanks. I just want the Reader to read.

Of course this is just my humble (though firm) opinion. Wanting wifi is as perfectly right as not wanting it.

[Skittels]

ok realy mp3 capable for 30hrs or more would be nice and would not mind 1mm thicker. LOL just let sony add one of those excellent small mp3 players they allready have.

but wifi? nope, not needed,
I am only interested if sony makes a version which is also capable of playing video in color, browsing, email, mass storage for holiday photos and maybe a game like a psp.... and guess what a EEE pc will give you all that in a small package...
So a EEE mini pc with a oled ebook swivel lid using SSD disks and 3 times as thick as the reader.... Giving color backlight or oled depending your needs.
would cost approx usd 600...

[=X=]

Originally Posted by m42

I just came from sonystyle in NYC looking for the red model. No one had heard about the red model but a sales clerk informed that a new model is coming in November.....with wifi.

That would be a great feature. As a customer however I find having support for BlueTooth more important. As it will really enhance the user experience . Being able to transfer files from Sony to PC, sony to sony (non DRM books), and being able to listen to a bluetooth headset.

It would be great if they can implement both. I know there are some wireless transmitters that do both protocols with one chip.

=X=

[Prolet]

Wifi ? Could be a nice addition.
What I'd really like to see:
Exchangeable battery (better: use of STANDARD batteries, AA or AAA)
A USABLE MP3 player (current one's not suitable for eBooks at all)
Bigger buttons for turning pages (right hand side)
More font sizes (not just S, M and L)
Search function
Illumination
Slightly "whiter" screen

That's it.

[monkeywrench]

I need one of three things in the next version of the reader. I don't need all three, one of them will suffice.

1. WiFi with the ability to download books from the internet (sony store, feedbooks, whatever)

2. A cellular connection with the ability to download books from the internet (sony store, feedbooks, whatever).

3. A decent piece of software from Sony that will allow access to their ebook store that works on a MAC.... yeah, thats right, multi-platform software so that people that don't use nor want to use Windows have an option that works natively with the product.

I guess some will say why not just get a kindle. My response to this is that I like the form factor of the Sony, button placement, etc. Beyond this since I have the 500 I would like to stick with Sony to keep my books. That being said I am seriously considering a Kindle now. I just want a way to download books to the reader that doesn't require jumping through hoops.

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

you're right, how gauche of me. i meant, "this fourth trimester is going to be very interesting."

Never knew Sony was knocked up!

[Dr. Drib]

Ok, here's my opinion about what's needed to keep up with the competition:

1) WiFi - the argument that something can go wrong doesn't cut it with me, as anything can go wrong at anytime with complicated technology. Technology is moving in that direction anyway, as one person here noted. It's a selling poing. Maybe we need tiered levels of Readers with different price points. -- Keeping abreast with the Kindle.

2) Replaceable Battery - Ok, make the process difficult, but make it available from Borders or a Sony store.

3) More ram - it's relatively cheap. It's not that what is available is not enough; rather, it seems to be a perceptual way of thinking. Keeping abreast of the Gen3.

4) Less Weight - I mean, HEY, it can happen.

______________

For you young Sony corporate chaps, go back and read what happens to technology when operating systems are closed. Look at Tandy (Radio Shacks) TRS-DOS and the early Macintosh. Arguably, if Apple had opened up the Macintosh's operating system early on, Windows might not exist and Bill Gates' well-publicized temper tantrums would get his little butt fired from the many jobs he'd no doubt be working at. Sony needs enough greed to survive, but too much greed will kill anything.

The good news is this: Sony has taken the first steps to add more choices to our favorite Reader. I don't think it's too late.

I'm open to changes in my thinking.


Don

[Gravitas]

only improvement I'd like to see for my PRS500 is more (and cheaper) books available.

And with Readers coming on sale in the UK next month, I'm hoping that's what I'm going to get.

[thorswitch]

While wifi could be an interesting addition, I have to agree with those who are skeptical about a store clerk knowing about that kind of a new model coming out in November if she doesn't know about the red model that's already available on the SonyStyle site and should be in stores fairly soon. It just strikes me as really odd that, according to the poster, *no one* knew about the announced and impending red, but they'd heard of something being released *later*?

Also, if Sony were to be releasing a new model with wifi, it would seem to me that it would make more sense for them to have added the firmware upgrade to that and released it all as a single package. I'm sure many of us would have seriously considered buying up to get both the epub *and* wifi. I dunno.

[RWood]

As the ebook market in general grows, prices will decline.

Sony has to innovate. To sit on its current models or make small changes is to invite failure. Is their fear of failure so strong that they will play catch-up and go down the path of "me too" for the rest of the product cycle or will they take the lead and set the market direction again?

They did so many things right in the original PRS-500 it is understandable that they do not feel a lot of pressure to alter the basic configuration. If they had more books available then, if the books were priced lower, if .... When the 500 was introduced it was the finest reading device in the market. That has been challenged. I have no doubt that Sony can design and build the best reading device, the only question is, "Will they?"

[HarryT]

Dictionary lookup would be my #1 request for the Sony. It's the only device on the market now which doesn't have it, and it puts it (IMHO) at a significant disadvantage.

[mikecook]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Dictionary lookup would be my #1 request for the Sony. It's the only device on the market now which doesn't have it, and it puts it (IMHO) at a significant disadvantage.

Dictionary/translator lookups would be very cool!

As for cheaper books, I just don't see how this could happen. How much less do you think it costs to produce a book in e instead of p? I would not be surprised if it costs only pennies to produce a paper book, so how then can they reduce the cost of the e version any more than they already do?

Perhaps books are hugely overpriced in the first place, but that's an argument for another day ;-)

[dordale]

I'm with Harry on this one. I love my prs 505--but I would really like built in dictionary functionality. That's the only thing I miss from reading on my Clie.

dordale

[jedavis1]

Originally Posted by mikecook

As for cheaper books, I just don't see how this could happen. How much less do you think it costs to produce a book in e instead of p? I would not be surprised if it costs only pennies to produce a paper book, so how then can they reduce the cost of the e version any more than they already do?

Perhaps books are hugely overpriced in the first place, but that's an argument for another day ;-)

Being in the printing/publishing industry, I can vouch that this statement isn't true. Paper books have material involved, labor that is payed for, shipping and distribution, stocking and warehousing... That doesn't involve any money going to the copyright holder... With eBooks there is no material and very little labor, very little "shipping and warehousing" and no transportation... I believe they could come down significantly on ebooks.