Sony PRS-T1 specs!

[sabredog]

The 350 and 650 series touch screens are a world apart from the 600. Matt finish, responsive and so easy to use.

I would imagine the new generation of Sony ereaders about due will be as good if not better than the pearl eink touch screen 350/650 series that preceded them.

[readingglasses]

Yeah but, we all knew the touchscreen would be as good as the x50 or even better. The legibility sounds like it'll be the same (unless eink has come up with a new "pearl" that is better than the old "pearl" released this past year). And the touch function, being dual, is better.

It's nice that they make it easy to add your own fonts (presumably...but I'm being optimistic) and to select your own fonts (as the rundown says).
THese are things that the prs+ project already allows.

I would've been much more impressed to see support for complex script languages. Which looks like it won't be seen adequately implemented on anything but the bebook/onyx and other high priced low market share items, which either have sucky screens or are wonderful but too big to be pocketable.

Definitely doesn't sound like any huge improvements.
I have a very specific need for the wifi so that's good for me. But for people who just like to use wikipedia/google, it's not so much a great improvement as a very nice improvement.
microsd means cuter. but the device isn't even smaller for it. so it's actually just less compatible with cards than the 650 (save the 350, which had nothing).

The new design is as unmasculine and unbookish as can be. Every other ereader, past and present, even in pink, looks more rugged/serious than this one. This is a total cell phone/kitchen appliance look. And it doesn't make me want to buy an xperia nor will it make xperia owners want to buy it...or maybe they will.
On second look, the bevel is pretty businesslike (reminds me of a tictac box, fsr) and the bottom isn't super curved but it will be harder to balance.

So, compared to 650:

Has a name that evokes the terminator, even though that was T1000 and 800 series. so, a plus there.
less card compatible
sillier look without being fun but still has its appeal. maybe it will balance slightly to one side, when leaned against another book or wall, kind of all relaxed-like.
cheaper material but lighter (and do we really need to plunder metal resources for an ereader? not that it couldn't be recycled more easily than this kind of plastic). so you'll feel it less in your pocket.

internet browsing (but the browser remains to be seen, how well does it handle switching between multiple windows? is it all just one at a time and no way to even access a pop up window?)

something potentially very disturbing is that HTML is not listed as a file format. will it be impossible to "read" a webpage you've stored on the device, despite having a browser? this is unheard of and I think just missing from the bol.com website, not from the T1.

maybe internet shopping
better/more complex touch
keeps minimalist buttons for balanced UI

may or may not have better language support with improvements in font selection

battery life improvement is not appreciable. the x50 were never running out of power to anyone's annoyance. so this is better, but it doesn't matter.
battery may or may not be user replaceable.

price is now as affordable as anyone and competitive
: if it's 165EU, truly, and it's always more expensive in EU and UK due to VAT, not to mention UK's own vat, then it'll be ~$150 in north america. 10-20 bucks more than everyone else, while offering at least one thing better than any other, is a pretty easy trade off that the market will bear. A touchscreen instead of kindle's/iriver's backwards and clunky qwerty buttons, multi touch and still has buttons instead of dumber and simpler kobo/nook (despite the love of simplicity they allow), several foreign dictionaries instead of nothing but english from kobo and nook, text lookup over kobo's one-day-it-will-be firmware update.
You can root the nook to get everything. So I suppose the nook is the ultimate for hackers who don't want to try too hard.

overall, I'm probably going to be disappointed. The sony store still has complete availability of the x50 models where I am, at full price of course, but I'll still buy the T1 just for it's wifi, hoping it natively can process more complex languages. but that's unlikely, if the competition is any indication.
a nice prs+ test device, for the price.

in all humility, idk what else there is to say before more details are available.

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by sabredog

The 350 and 650 series touch screens are a world apart from the 600. Matt finish, responsive and so easy to use.

I would imagine the new generation of Sony ereaders about due will be as good if not better than the pearl eink touch screen 350/650 series that preceded them.

Oh yeah, I am aware of the differences in touch tech. The IR touch system is quite nice. I've seen demo units in stores, just never got to play with one for any length of time.

What I am wondering about is if the next gen readers will still use the IR touch system, since info I've seen so far suggests multitouch.

[readingglasses]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

Oh yeah, I am aware of the differences in touch tech. The IR touch system is quite nice. I've seen demo units in stores, just never got to play with one for any length of time.

What I am wondering about is if the next gen readers will still use the IR touch system, since info I've seen so far suggests multitouch.

So should we assume that multi touch is absolutely impossible with only IR and a capacitative screen will be needed and will have to be thicker/less optically transmissive?

everything now seems possible for multi touch:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-t...mplementations

[readingglasses]

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

Is it safe to presume it has new cpu? I mean, new within the context of current ereaders. Otherwise the changes seem minimal for a next gen device (considering the previous Sonys were nicely equipped).




lol.

Oh, it's a B i g change, you can be sure of that.
It's named after its processor, which punches well above its weight:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UltraSPARC_T1

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by readingglasses

Oh, it's a B i g change, you can be sure of that.
It's named after its processor, which punches well above its weight:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UltraSPARC_T1

You have ANY thing to back up that claim? I've not seen anything of the sort. I mean, why would Sony use a 6 year old server processor (That has been superseded 5 times) in a mobile device? If things are android based, as suspected, Sony would have to redo the toolchain to work with that architecture, as Android is currently only made to work on ARM, MIPS, and x86 platforms and NOT SPARC.

Originally Posted by readingglasses

So should we assume that multi touch is absolutely impossible with only IR and a capacitative screen will be needed and will have to be thicker/less optically transmissive?

everything now seems possible for multi touch:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-t...mplementations

IR multitouch does have limitation issues. Proximity to other fingers can skew detection. Also in my experience, IR systems like this experience jitter unless you have really high resolution sensors.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by readingglasses

Oh, it's a B i g change, you can be sure of that.
It's named after its processor, which punches well above its weight:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UltraSPARC_T1

This is vanishingly unlikely. Do you have one shred of evidence to support your claim?

[rkomar]

I think readingglasses' remark was a joke based on the "T1" part of the name. I can't imagine anyone actually using a Sparc chip in an ereader; it just wouldn't make sense.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by EatingPie

I dropped my PRS-500 on the tile floor, and it dented the top-right corner. The screen functioned perfectly for years afterward, as did the Reader's bezel; the dent never interfered with holding or using the device.

If it was "high impact" plastic, I'm curious what would have happened. My Reader denting absorbed the impact. Wouldn't high impact plastic just shatter?

Plastic tends to be better than metal at absorbing impact, because it flexes and thus absorbs the energy.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rkomar

I think readingglasses' remark was a joke based on the "T1" part of the name. I can't imagine anyone actually using a Sparc chip in an ereader; it just wouldn't make sense.

More than that, it just plain couldn't be done; the power requirements of such a processor are completely incompatible with a portable device.

[idle]

Originally Posted by EatingPie

I dropped my PRS-500 on the tile floor, and it dented the top-right corner. The screen functioned perfectly for years afterward, as did the Reader's bezel; the dent never interfered with holding or using the device.

If it was "high impact" plastic, I'm curious what would have happened. My Reader denting absorbed the impact. Wouldn't high impact plastic just shatter?

I dropped my plastic Hanlin several times, including a tile floor, and it came out without a scratch.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by idle

I dropped my plastic Hanlin several times, including a tile floor, and it came out without a scratch.

Same here... One reason I almost never take my Sony with me, is because I'm afraid it will dent! With my BBMini, I know it won't (I tried it!)

[Pinecone]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Well, I'm glad that I'm so happy with my 650, because I can't see anything in this that would make me want to upgrade.

Plastic....sigh.

+1

Need to find another 650

[Pinecone]

Originally Posted by Barty

The curved bottom will make it hard to prop it up on something.

Exactly. I prop mine up when reading in restaurants.

[Pinecone]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

The kindles are plastic

That is everyone's point.