Sony will launch next generation ereader tomorrow

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by HarryT

In what way does it distinguish them? There are numerous devices on the market which have touch screens.

From your device list I can see that you have a PRS-600 and other touch-screen devices - so you probably know well what the difference is between them.
New get has touch screen, no glare. Pretty self-explanatory really if you read the articles and see the pictures.

[Spartacus2112]

27 days of battery life for the daily....nice!

[OrcaBlue]

Check out some screenshots comparison photos. Different as night and day. I am so getting one for Xmas.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2368479,00.asp

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

You've got to be effing kidding me! The Pocket should be at least as cheap as the Wi-Fi Kindle 3 and the Touch at least as cheap as the 3G Kindle 3.

Realistic prices-- if they want to sell these-- is $129 for the Pocket and $179 for the Touch.

While their prices do seem a bit too high, I don't think it is at all realistic to think they have to undercut the kindle in order to sell, getting close enough in price that people can pick ePub and touch on the sony or wifi and store on a kindle without actively paying a large premium for that choice e.g. dropping the prices to $150 and $200 would get them close enough without forcing amazon into price cuts.

[igorsk]

Couple of things I noticed from Engadget photos:
1) You can now adjust brightness and contrast
2) USB slot is micro-USB
3) The charger looks like it has a USB socket, so presumably any USB charger will work now

And the screen does look much sharper. I'm disappointed that they didn't add at least WiFi to all the models, however

[OrcaBlue]

I wonder what is the "basic web browsing" capability of the new Daily Edition. I am a bit disappointed that the Daily Edition will come only in silver.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by m-reader

From your device list I can see that you have a PRS-600 and other touch-screen devices - so you probably know well what the difference is between them.

Yes, that was my point - that there are many other touch-screen devices on the market, so this isn't something that will be a differentiator for Sony, unless perhaps one is restricting the comparison to Amazon and B&N.

[igorsk]

NYTimes posted too. Some quotes:

On Wednesday Sony will introduce a new line of e-readers and applications for iPhones and Android phones.
...
“Consistently the number-one thing we heard was it needs to feel like a book, so you just forget that you have a device in your hand,” said Steve Haber, president of Sony’s digital reading division.
...
While the older versions required forceful touching, the pages of the new readers respond even to a hovering finger. Sony also used an improved E Ink Pearl display so text is now visible in direct sunlight, the company says.
...
The Pocket and Touch Editions will be available Wednesday and the Daily Edition by the end of the year.
The new phone apps will be available later this year and, like the Kindle app, will allow people to pick up where they left off in a book when they switch devices.
Sony is also expanding availability internationally — including to Italy, Spain, Australia, China and Japan — and the new readers include 10 translation dictionaries in addition to two English ones.

[HarryT]

the pages of the new readers respond even to a hovering finger.

That implies that they're now using a capacitive touch screen. That's a smart move; the capacitive touch screens on the iPhone and iPad work superbly well.

[charleski]

Sony was wise not to include wireless on the two lower models. It's just a waste of money unless your focus is on getting customers to buy from your store. Instead, they're playing to their strengths: better design, touch-screen functionality and the superior epub format. The pricing is clearly designed to allow retailers a bit of leeway for discounts.

The pictures from PCMag look pretty good. If they've got the Pearl screen and have solved the touchscreen glare issue then these are strong products.

[igorsk]

Full spect from CNET:

Here are the PRS-350's key specs:
Price: $179.99
5-inch "clear touch" screen (16-level grayscale E-Ink Pearl screen)
Weighs 5.64 ounces
Measure 5.71 x 4.11 x 0.33 inches (HWD)
2 GB built-in memory (stores around 1,200 e-books)
Text and handwritten note-taking capabilities
Two full weeks of reading on a single battery charge
Embedded multilingual dictionaries (2 English language and 10 translation dictionaries)
6 adjustable font sizes to customize
USB 2.0 data and power connection (micro USB)
Supports PDF, Microsoft Word, and other text file formats, as well as EPUB/ACS4 and connection with Adobe Digital Editions
Reads JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP image files
Reader Library software for PC and Mac
Available in silver and pink
Shipping September 1

Here are the PRS-650's key specs:
Price: $229.99
6-inch "clear touch" screen (16-level grayscale E-Ink Pearl screen)
Weighs 7.93 ounces and is only .38 inches thick
SD and Memory Stick Duo Expansion slots for adding additional memory
Plays back MP3 and AAC audio files (headphone jack on board)
Otherwise offers the same features as the PRS-350 above
Available in black and red
Shipping September 1

[DonaldL.]

Sony slims down, speeds up, and adds touch to its entire Reader family

[HarryT]

It'll be interesting to see if they've eliminated the library scan which so limits the current Sony readers.

[igorsk]

PaidContent has a lot of quotes from Harber, which explain some of the decisions made.

[olis]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That implies that they're now using a capacitive touch screen. That's a smart move; the capacitive touch screens on the iPhone and iPad work superbly well.

Since they come with a stylus I don't think they are using a capacitive screen.