Finally, new Sony rumors

[Squirsier]

Originally Posted by dynabook

I downloaded the new Reader Library software (v. 3.3) and noticed that on zelda's Three Men and a Boat the text appears justified. Can the new 650 and 350 have justified text?

Isn't that 3.2? Anyway, that's the latest I could find (and what I do use) and the text is indeed fully justified when reading ePub files.

We don't know yet if the new readers will be fully justified tho, which most people here hope so!

Edit : Nevermind that, I saw the other thread about the new v3.3 . However, I can confirm that still, with 3.2, the text is fully justified when reading ePubs...

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

Yes, that's the opinion that I'm leaning towards. Someone threw together fake screenshots as a joke/hoax. I'd be very easy to do.

It would, but there is one major reason I think the screens are real.

The PRS-305 looks like a mini PRS-600. Every time I held a PRS-300, I thought there was too much wasted space at the bottom. TONS of wasted space. Yes, the buttons were there, but they made the device look too klunky, not as clean as the PRS-500/PRS-505 (which had similar hard keys, but were more proportional, and looked "right"). The PRS-600 layout also seems the way Sony wanted to go -- nice, clean lines, good button placement, attractive and functional, most space devoted to the screen, with a small bezel -- heck, the PRS-900 looks like an stretched 600.

Sony may be bad at some things, but their "industrial design" is second to none. The PS3, for example, is an engineering work of art. Their Blu-ray players are things of beauty. Their shiny-black bezel TVs scream style. Or the best example yet: The PRS-500 compared to the original Kindle 1. O.M.G.!!

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

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.

I disagree with your interpretation here, for a few reasons.

First, Kindle didn't so much "legitimize" e-readers as popularize them. They leveraged the fact that they were a book store, had an insane library of content, and put a device directly in front of the audience that would use it: avid book readers. Sony could never do that, since they didn't have the largest book store in the world behind them.

Secondly, while the TV division is in the same building as the Reader division at Sony San Diego, my understanding is they are different divisions entirely. They have different funding and different staff. I always got the impression -- from the PRS-500 on -- that Sony had a small staff working on their Readers. But I never got the impression it was due to Blu-ray or the PS3, both of which are outside the San Diego offices.

The fact of the matter is, Sony makes billions more money from TVs and games (literally), so those areas get more resources, and have for years. YEARS! The Reader is new, small, and -- let's face it -- risky and not nearly as profitable. And in any company, this means less resources and support. As I said, it's felt like that from the PRS-500 all the way to now. I don't think it had a single thing to do with Amazon, since this sort of "low key presence" pre-dated the Kindle for year and a half.

-Pie

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by EatingPie

The fact of the matter is, Sony makes billions more money from TVs and games (literally), so those areas get more resources, and have for years. YEARS! The Reader is new, small, and -- let's face it -- risky and not nearly as profitable. And in any company, this means less resources and support. As I said, it's felt like that from the PRS-500 all the way to now. I don't think it had a single thing to do with Amazon, since this sort of "low key presence" pre-dated the Kindle for year and a half.

-Pie

+1
Plus:
Sony has been and remains in bad financial shape for years now.
(They've also frittered away a *lot* of value and are still losing it: http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/co...2010/19560366/)

They need high-visibility winners to build back their lost reputation; selling a million book readers isn't going to get them there. So their attention and resources goes elsewhere.
They need money and they need gobs of it; TVs and gaming consoles move billions--ebook readers, millions. That's a couple orders of magnitude. TVs and consoles are mature, well-understood businesses, whereas ebooks are an emerging business that is being actively *resisted* by the entrenched publishing oligarchs. Hard to argue for resources at HQ.

If anything, the Sony Reader guys were lucky to get the readers included in last year's holiday TV advertising campaign.

So, no, Kindle didn't marginalize Sony--they did it to themselves.
Amazon just did two things:
1- They copied Sony's business model and stepped into the void Sony's inaction had created.
2- They *executed*. They've stuck with their model and never blinked; they've evolved their product and supported it to the hilt.

But then, to Amazon, Kindle is *central* to their survival.
To Sony, the Readers are just a minor side bet.

All that remains now is to see what the 350/650/950 bring to the game.
But the names themselves suggest incremental gains rather than generational change so I'm not holding my breath for any revolutionary new feature.

[mikaelalind]

I am a bit confused at the moment. I went to IFA's homepage to see if Sony would be there. And if there were any clues about the new models.
They will be there. And a reader is listed. A good reader too. I know, since I have it... Sony PRS 505. Maybe it is just a placeholder, and they will have information about the new readers.
Or, maybe they plan to release PRS 550...
Anyway. Can someone that will be at IFA please visit Sony's booth during the fair?

[kikar]

When Stinger took over Sony they were in bad shape. Sony had lost Billions developing the PS3 and paying off billions to studios in order to win the "High Def wars". The Computer Entertainment Division is starting to come around but for the past five years, thanks to the PS3 and Blu-ray, it has been dragging Sony down. Here is a good article about String and Sony along with an selection about the reader.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/24/tech...ion=2009062610

"The Sony Reader is the most jarring recent example of the way Sony's internal structures and culture have led to missed opportunities. The device had first been developed in isolation by a group of engineers in the home-audio division; that group's urgent focus was to try to revitalize the Walkman brand in the face of the iPod onslaught. Stringer, who collects rare books, was a strong proponent of the Reader, but earlier versions of the product fizzled in the Japanese market. Limited enthusiasm in Japan curtailed the project, even though more than three-quarters of Sony's sales are outside the country. Stringer blames himself for not pushing harder for the Reader -- which also lacked Kindle's deep publisher relationships -- and vows to catch up with a new wireless model. "It rankled me," he says of the episode, "because it made me aware of the limitations of my power." "

Sony has since rolled the Reader into the CES division and is putting more of an effort into the reader. Going epub was the first step. Going wireless and touchscreen was the second. While also trying different sizes for different people. Stringer loves books and loves the reader, so it is interesting to see the route Sony is taking. If they can match the convenience of Amazon and put some money behind advertising. Then I think Sony has a chance at recapturing lost market share.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by EatingPie

It would, but there is one major reason I think the screens are real.

The PRS-305 looks like a mini PRS-600.

And that is one major reason that I think the screens are fake-- it looks like the image of the PRS-350 IS an image of a PRS-600.

[lord_blackfang]

Except for the part where the Library was updated like 2 days after the "faked" screenshot with PRS-350 and 650 support.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by lord_blackfang

Except for the part where the Library was updated like 2 days after the "faked" screenshot with PRS-350 and 650 support.

You will be so kind as to show me where in the Library software it shows photographs of the 350 and 650 looking like the readers in the screenshots?

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by kikar

When Stinger took over Sony they were in bad shape. Sony had lost Billions developing the PS3 and paying off billions to studios in order to win the "High Def wars". The Computer Entertainment Division is starting to come around but for the past five years, thanks to the PS3 and Blu-ray, it has been dragging Sony down. Here is a good article about String and Sony along with an selection about the reader.

I'm going to go a little off topic here...

Where is the record of "paying off billions" to studios during the Blu-ray/HD-DVD format war? Nowhere, because they didn't.

The article doesn't even mention Blu-ray as being part of Sony's financial woes. At. All. (Unless you count it being in the PS3.)

Here is a more accurate account, written by Forbes.

Forbes:
Despite rumors to the contrary, Sony executives say they did not pay movie studios to side with Blu-ray in the format war. But Sony did spend more than $60 million advertising PlayStation 3 from November to January in the U.S., according to tns Media Intelligence, bringing free attention to Hollywood movies and retailers alike.

The swing vote turned out to be home entertainment giant Warner Brothers. After scrutinizing holiday sales of players, Warner announced on Jan. 4 that it would adopt the Blu-ray standard.

http://www.dvdtown.com/news/forbes-h...er-hd-dvd/5754

Ironically, the real "pay the studios" culprit was Toshiba, trying to get HD-DVD traction. As stated specifically by Paramount, they were paid to go HD-DVD exclusive, and make Star Trek TOS HD-DVD only. You can bet this played a role in Warner's decision to go Blu-ray, as the highly anticipated Star Trek release sold approximately 300 copies on HD-DVD after it's pre-Christmas release. The format war ended 6 months later after Paramount went HD-DVD exclusive and Paramount waited about 4 months for their payment before producing any Blu-rays.

So we go from "billions" to the truth: zero. Not counting "bundled ads" with the PS3 and and display space at Best Buy (which doesn't count, as Toshiba really did pay off studios).

The real problem with Sony's financial situation has been stated about 10 thousand times in the press: The PS3 and the economic downturn. Sony expected PS2-level sales, and did not get them. They've experienced some rebound due to multiple lower-end SKUs over the years, and the introduction of the much cheaper PS3 Slim, but they still aren't experiencing the sales they expected.

I realize this is a Reader thread (the health of Sony at large is tangentially applicable), but I despise this rewriting of history after the Format War. And the casting of Sony as the bad guy by claiming they did something their competitor actually did!!

Sheesh.

-Pie

[igorsk]

I went to the Sony PR page and checked the dates of previous releases. They all seem to fall on Thursdays. So, hopefully, we'll see something tomorrow.

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by EatingPie

I'm going to go a little off topic here...

Where is the record of "paying off billions" to studios during the Blu-ray/HD-DVD format war? Nowhere, because they didn't.

I am sorry, but you are misinformed. Warner made the switch to Blu-ray on the eve of the CES Show in Las Vegas and that ended HD DVD; Toshiba pulled out a couple of days after the show. There was definitely hundreds of millions of dollars on the table in various payments -- I'm not suggesting bribes, but rather business incentives in the coming year or so for co-sponsorship of advertising etc. I was there on the periphery of the inside action. Had Sony not stepped up in negotiations literally at the 11th hour with a deal that could not be refused, Toshiba would have won the day; in essence, Toshiba blinked.

As for ereaders, my point stands: the ereader division at one point had the serious ear of Sony senior management. Sony agreed to fund the development of the ereader; build plans for international launch; create an ereader store and develop the relationships to do that; and fund the business plan out two or three years at least -- you'd have to, in order to launch a new class of product. But whether through too rosy sales projections, or simply execution which was inadequate, the team ran out of steam and corporate largesse. Not willing to kill it outright, Sony management feigned deafness and the product withered. I can't prove this, but that's exactly how it appears to someone who knows how corporations work from the inside looking at Sony's ereader execution from the outside.

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

I am sorry, but you are misinformed. Warner made the switch to Blu-ray on the eve of the CES Show in Las Vegas and that ended HD DVD; Toshiba pulled out a couple of days after the show.

This is correct, and I never stated otherwise. I just wasn't quite this specific.

There was definitely hundreds of millions of dollars on the table in various payments -- I'm not suggesting bribes, but rather business incentives in the coming year or so for co-sponsorship of advertising etc. I was there on the periphery of the inside action. Had Sony not stepped up in negotiations literally at the 11th hour with a deal that could not be refused, Toshiba would have won the day; in essence, Toshiba blinked.

Now, in order for me to be "misinformed," that would make both Forbes and Variety dead wrong. And these are highly reputable sources for financial and industry information. If you read my post carefully, you will see I stated Sony's admission of advertising money and retail "display" sponsorship. However, it is a far, far cry from the "billions" you are suggesting (the numbers are in the linked article). It's also a far cry from "paying off" studios as you also stated.

On Toshiba giving money to Paramount, here is the Variety statement, quoted by FormatWarCentral.com:

FormatWarCentral.com:
http://formatwarcentral.com/2008/05/...-from-toshiba/
In a report from Variety about earnings for Viacom we read of a one time payment from Toshiba. The article refers to a ‚ "22% bump in home entertainment revenue on one-time items including a $29 million payout from Toshiba for Paramounts exclusive backing of the HD-DVD.‚" The article goes on to say that ‚ "Viacom said homevid revenue would have been down slightly if the payout wasn't included due to lower catalog sales."

It is now 100% clear that Viacom took money from Toshiba to drop Blu-ray Disc.

So, as I said in my previous post, Sony did not "payoff" any studio. Toshiba, OTOH, did. This is according to both Forbes and Variety.

If you are going to claim some sort of "11th hour monetary deal" you are going to need a citation. Something that has evidence behind it. I would not be surprised if this happened -- though I highly doubt Toshiba would have won the format war anyway -- but there have been so many bogus claims about Sony and Toshiba during and after the format war, I am not willing just take your word for it. Especially after you already highly inflated the numbers, and are claimed Blu-ray caused Sony's financial difficulties due to "payoffs," even when your cited article does not at all.

-Pie

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by EatingPie

Now, in order for me to be "misinformed," that would make both Forbes and Variety dead wrong. And these are highly reputable sources for financial and industry information. If you read my post carefully, you will see I stated Sony's admission of advertising money and retail "display" sponsorship. However, it is a far, far cry from the "billions" you are suggesting (the numbers are in the linked article). It's also a far cry from "paying off" studios as you also stated.

Pie: I can't see anywhere in this thread that I said "billions" was paid or that there was "paying off" of the studios. I don't think I cited an article anywhere in this thread either. I stated very clearly two posts ago (#236) what I know what happened from my own knowledge because I was there. I can't go further than that.

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

Pie: I can't see anywhere in this thread that I said "billions" was paid or that there was "paying off" of the studios. I don't think I cited an article anywhere in this thread either. I stated very clearly two posts ago (#236) what I know what happened from my own knowledge because I was there. I can't go further than that.

Oops. I apologize.

kikar was the original poster I replied to, and I just assumed you were him (I read for content! ). That was my mistake, and I very much apologize (again). He stated the "billions in payoffs," and cited the article I was referring to.

-Pie

[charleski]

Originally Posted by EatingPie

Oops. I apologize.

kikar was the original poster I replied to, and I just assumed you were him (I read for content! ). That was my mistake, and I very much apologize (again). He stated the "billions in payoffs," and cited the article I was referring to.

-Pie

Sensual Poet only referred to "hundred of millions" ....