Sony Removed PRS-700 AND 505 !

[Lord KiRon]

What I found "strange" in this "waiting for new device" theory is that Sony usually does very strong promo compain before releasing something (remember the 700's "digital revolution"?)
Now - nothing.
It looks more like getting out of ebooks business.
And the announcement of the new software for Mac does not contradict it since may be software being developed but there is an executive decision to "get out" that may be even software engineers do not know about.

[porkupan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'd vote for "Sony are pulling out of the eBook market".

So, there never was the email, reported by zelda_pinwheel? Or was there?

It's hard to believe Sony is exiting the ebook business after three years of rather good sales and one poorly designed device. My money is on the continuation of the business with a new lineup of models (most probably connected via some wireless interface). Why Sony is keeping mute about the next generation of the Readers is unclear. Perhaps they are still trying to set up the production line in China, and have trouble getting to the supply of the eInk displays.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by porkupan

So, there never was the email, reported by zelda_pinwheel? Or was there?

It's hard to believe Sony is exiting the ebook business after three years of rather good sales and one poorly designed device. My money is on the continuation of the business with a new lineup of models (most probably connected via some wireless interface). Why Sony is keeping mute about the next generation of the Readers is unclear. Perhaps they are still trying to set up the production line in China, and have trouble getting to the supply of the eInk displays.

the email is real, it was recieved my many people (although, not me personally, in fact, as i am not registered with sony ; sorry if that was not clear), including some people who have confirmed it in this thread, i believe. MobileRead team member NatCh was actually informed of the news in advance, and it's from that info that i made the announcement ; the email went out to people registered with sony later that day.

i also think it would be unlikely for them to expand the plateform support of their software immediately before abandoning the ebook business, and there has been no news from sony allowing us to suppose this. the fact that they've only recently expanded into other countries (like france) also seems to contradict the idea that they're abandoning the business.

i guess we'll really just have to wait and see...

[MerLock]

I think they are just updating their reader line and discontinuing the current models. I use to own one of their mp3 walkman players and just before the new ones were released, all the older models were no longer sold even before the new models were out. Also, right before the release of the newer models, the older models had a price drop to move old inventory. Intitally I thought they were removing mp3 players since there were no new models at the time the older models were discontinued. I'm guessing Sony just doesn't do very well at estimating when the new model comes out and when the older models get sold out.

So besides reading tech headlines, a good indication for me of when Sony would release something new, is looking for a price drop on their current models.

Fingers crossed that they aren't leaving the ebook reader industry. However, I do see them exiting the business of selling ebooks like they did their music store if they can't get enough publishers to sell through their stores or if not enough people purchase from their store. I believe Sony has been very willing in opening up their reader to other ebook formats, such as epub, so that consumers have alternative ways of downloading ebooks. I recall they even said that Sony would support kindle formatted books if Amazon would allow them to.

Also, usually when they do exit a certain business, like they did the music store or some of their other pet projects, it's heavily covered in tech blogs.

[igorsk]

Here's the email.

[porkupan]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

MobileRead team member NatCh was actually informed of the news in advance, and it's from that info that i made the announcement ; the email went out to people registered with sony later that day.

It's is just strange that this information was never reflected in any of Sony's official news or press releases. I don't remember getting the email from Sony eBook Store either, and I am registered with them.

As far as the other recent symptoms (i.e. withdrawing the product without any official explanation, not pre-announcing anything, slowing the pace of new additions to the ebook store, etc.), those are rather suspicious. All the previous rumors indicated, however, that Sony was working on a larger screen Reader, that the negotiations with some Wispernet provider were under way, etc. So, it's really hard to believe that the ebook business has been such a disappointment to Sony, that they all of a sudden just decided to quit it altogether. I sure hope it's not the case.

[krischik]

Originally Posted by Lord KiRon

As for red and silver ... they sell less and made a lot so Sony probably has stock.

Silver is the only one you get in Germany and Switzerland. Apart from grey (as in not quite legal) imports that is.

Martin

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by krischik

Silver is the only one you get in Germany and Switzerland. Apart from grey imports that is.

Martin

and france.

[ahi]

Originally Posted by krischik

Silver is the only one you get in Germany and Switzerland.

Just the way God meant it!

Originally Posted by porkupan

As far as the other recent symptoms (i.e. withdrawing the product without any official explanation, not pre-announcing anything, slowing the pace of new additions to the ebook store, etc.), those are rather suspicious. All the previous rumors indicated, however, that Sony was working on a larger screen Reader, that the negotiations with some Wispernet provider were under way, etc. So, it's really hard to believe that the ebook business has been such a disappointment to Sony, that they all of a sudden just decided to quit it altogether. I sure hope it's not the case.

Indeed... with all things considered, I don't understand at all why people think there's any real indication that Sony could possibly be abandoning the eBook market.

Of course... I'll feel a little silly if they'll turn out to be right.

- Ahi

[vivaldirules]

Originally Posted by krischik

Silver is the only one you get ....

Ick! No wonder they're going under. Shall we make plans for the interment? Okay, I'm just joking. If I was forced to make a bet, I'd bet that Sony have a new device forthcoming and they are discontinuing adding back titles to their store until they implement something different that they have planned (like jump to epub or hand off the store to someone else so they can stick to making devices). But I don't exclude the possibility that they are just exiting the business. Only time will tell. And she never tells us anything until it's too late.

[dedo]

I think they stopped because PRS-700 display was so bad...

[Sonist]

Well, it's close to August, which is when Sony was rumored to be introducing a new, large-screen device.

Maybe they are updating and streamlining the line.

If they have a large-screen reader with good support for PDF, touch-screen and with improved contrast, I'll have two Kindles to sell :-)

[kazbates]

Originally Posted by dedo

I think they stopped because PRS-700 display was so bad...

I'll admit the the display on the 700 is not as crisp as that of the 505, but I thoroughly enjoy my reader and don't have any complaints with the display.

One main point that no one has mentioned is the nature of the technology game. New technology is constantly being developed and the older technology becomes obsolete very quickly. To keep on top of the game, technology distributers have to market the "latest and greatest" to keep up with demand for the "next best thing". Sony has a good reputation for presenting the newest technology in their chosen product markets. Wireless connectivity is huge right now (think the iphone, Palm Pre, etc.) and it seems logical to think that Sony would want to get in on the action.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

My guess is that they have switched all their production capacity to a new device, or devices, and they underestimated demand for the existing units. I am a bit surprised that they are apparently replacing the PRS-505. It is an old design, but it is price and feature competitive even with new devices.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a new 6" model with some sort of wireless capability to interface with the store. It seems to be the way the industry is going.

[olis]

Laptopmag has just published an interview with Mike Abary, who is senior vice president of Sony’s Information Technology Products Division. This is what he says about the sony reader:

Q: Is there any similar collaboration going on with the Sony Reader team?
A: There was a reorganization that occurred at Sony where PlayStation, VAIO, Walkman, and Reader came under the same electronics group. As such, with those categories being put together under one umbrella we need to collaborate. I also see a better integration of Reader with VAIO products.

Q: Will you be launching any touchscreen notebooks this year?
A: There are certain things that will be native on Windows 7 that we are certainly going to take advantage of. Without giving too much away, we think touch on Windows 7 is something we find compelling and we will certainly introduce touch into some of our products at the launch of Win 7. You will see touch capabilities introduced on VAIO products that take advantage of Windows 7.

Q: So Holiday 2009 we are going to see a touch enabled VAIO with a crossbar media interface that allows you to tap into the Playstation network and access the Sony eBook store?
A: [Laughs.] You are going to see VAIO products that take advantage of already announced touch capabilities in Windows 7. You are also going to see more collaboration between the groups within Sony

The entire interview is here:
http://blog.laptopmag.com/sony-promi...support-coming