Sony will launch next generation ereader tomorrow - Page 4

Dave Berk · 09-01-2010, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scheichxodox

I think this fits very well. Sony missed the chance to work it out with Epub: Epub is doomed.

You (& Nate) couldn't be more wrong. ePub is not "doomed". At worst Sony is doomed. DRM-ePub maybe doomed as well, but what else is new. People will get burned using it and will be forced to learn how remove it. Same as in the early days of mp3s. ePub, ublike any other book format out there - is a standard. Means there's more documentation how to work with it. Also you have Sigil & friends for editing ePub files. You could also call it Calibre main format. There is work on creating a new version of it that will support dictionaries natively. The days of ePub are just beginning.

dmikov · 09-01-2010, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scheichxodox

I think this fits very well. Sony missed the chance to work it out with Epub: Epub is doomed.

That would be another argument for the Kindle 3. If I have to strip DRM or convert my ebooks using calibre then I can as well do it on the cheaper Kindle.

I wouldn't put much stock in the opinion of the poster, who calls epub - "Adobe epub" without realizing that only Adept has any relation to Adobe. I am referring to the article not to you of course. So I am not sure where he got the info about DRM that Sony will support.
As Samuel Clemens used to say the news about epub death are greatly exaggerated. If he knew about epub anyway

BTW how's that moves you to Kindle with it totally proprietary format, I don't see at all. It's like me deciding to take vacation in Alaska in January, because it rained in Florida.
Stripping DRM and working on stripping DRM and reformatting book to use it on different reader seems very far apart.
Sorry I digressed, from Sony announcement. Go Sony (and improve customer service while you at it)

EowynCarter · 09-01-2010, 08:31 AM

Or course they are not using B&N DRM. That would be stupid IMHO, when most shops selling ePub uses adept DRm. And barnes and noble being US only, I coudn't care less about not having acces there. You're seeing this from a us point of view, but using B&N drm means losing everyone not the the US.

Sounds temping, if they add justify for ePub, it might be mine.

mikaelalind · 09-01-2010, 08:45 AM

Sounds tempting, but I'll wait and see for reviews. Plus it will take awhile for it to come to Europe.
And if they stick with the 1 dollar= 1 euro that's standard, the prices aren't that bad. Fyi, when PRS 600 was released in Sweden it cost 370 euro. Oi. Now it is only 270 euro...

igorsk · 09-01-2010, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikaelalind

Sounds tempting, but I'll wait and see for reviews. Plus it will take awhile for it to come to Europe.

Supposedly Sony will do some announcements at IFA. And some people mentioned that new Readers could appear in Waterstones in week or two.

mikaelalind · 09-01-2010, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by igorsk

Supposedly Sony will do some announcements at IFA. And some people mentioned that new Readers could appear in Waterstones in week or two.

I should have remembered IFA. They are listed to be there with a reader. I should have been clearer and said Sweden instead of Europe..

SkyDream · 09-01-2010, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Berk

What makes me mad is that they don't offer a 9.7in version. I can't understand why.

Me too.
Ever since waiting for a good 9.7"; doesn't like the Kindle DXG 'cause of Amazon lock in and the keyboard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Berk

PocketBook aren't using the latest pearl eInk screen.

They will (at least 902/903) but unfortunately not at the beginning. First shipments would be glass but they said they will replace it next year; no further details.

JSWolf · 09-01-2010, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

Or course they are not using B&N DRM. That would be stupid IMHO, when most shops selling ePub uses adept DRm. And barnes and noble being US only, I coudn't care less about not having acces there. You're seeing this from a us point of view, but using B&N drm means losing everyone not the the US.

Sounds temping, if they add justify for ePub, it might be mine.

It's not a matter of switching the DRM for ePub. It was a matter of adding the B&N ePub DRM so eBooks could also be bought from B&N. if Sony removed the standard Adept DRM, they'd be out of the game so fast.

ardeegee · 09-01-2010, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crowl

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

I do. I paid $190 (got a Bing rebate while that was going on) for my PRS-300 soon after it was released and thought it was a great deal. But the market has changed-- it will be a cold day in hell when I pay $179 for the 350. The big appeal of the 300 at the time was that it was the single cheapest eInk reader on the market. Now their 5-inch reader is priced a large percentage higher than competing 6-inch readers? If that is the way Sony is going to play the game, they might as well close their ebook division now, because they are dead.

bill_mchale · 09-01-2010, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardeegee

I do. I paid $190 (got a Bing rebate while that was going on) for my PRS-300 soon after it was released and thought it was a great deal. But the market has changed-- it will be a cold day in hell when I pay $179 for the 350. The big appeal of the 300 at the time was that it was the single cheapest eInk reader on the market. Now their 5-inch reader is priced a large percentage higher than competing 6-inch readers? If that is the way Sony is going to play the game, they might as well close their ebook division now, because they are dead.

I agree; their ebook readers need to be at least $50 cheaper across the board. Get the PRS-350 to $130 and it might have a chance. At $20-$30 more than a Wifi Kindle or Nook, and you have given consumers a reason to exclude the Sony from their list.

--
Bill

Solicitous · 09-01-2010, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

I know Sony said they weren't going to compete on price... but what exactly are they competing on? If you are going to charge a premium over the best selling devices (Kindle and Nook in the US I presume), then it better have something going for it... and I am afraid for Sony that I just don't see a touch screen being that thing (I think wireless and ebook store integration is a bigger deal for people who want something more than a basic reader).

Ironically, the pocket edition again might be the star of the ball. While still a big step up in price from where the PRS-300 is selling, it still leaves it the cheapest 5" ereader with an e-Ink screen (I assume that this all means that the PRS-300 is being discontinued).

A few other questions.

1. Will they all have fixed epub formatting?
2. Will they still support LRF?

Final thought, Sony might think it is too early in the game for low pricing, but I disagree, Amazon and B&N both are competing on price. I think Sony's biggest problem is that they are essentially operating as a hardware company, not a media company.

--
Bill

I kind of agree with you, Sony appear (to me) to be a company to sell a product and fairly quickly drop any software support for it. The PS3 is an exception, but if you look at the PRS-300/600 I have yet to see a firmware update for, despite the number of issues/problems people would liked to get fixed. You're right, if Sony isn't competing on price what are they competing on? For $179US for the 5" they'd want to provide some form of firmware updates for the life of the product. If they just release it, sell it and forget about it, given the current ereader market it could be a short venture by Sony.

If Sony is listening, if you don't want to compete on price, compete on service. Many many people will pay extra for good service....oh and don't forget Australia, we are ebook readers too. Expanding geographically might help them too (I know articles are suggesting they will, but there has been ALOT of talk but no action from companies in the ereader/ebook market, I shall believe when I see).

igorsk · 09-01-2010, 10:16 AM

Canada gets new models soon too. They also have a silver PRS-650! PRS-650 is $249.99 ("Available on or about 09/17/2010"), PRS-350 is $199.99 ("Available on or about 09/08/2010").

Merbear · 09-01-2010, 11:56 AM

Should have paid more attention about when the new models were coming out darn it. I bought the PRS600 last April for $179 and then my sister bought one in June for $149 and I bought another last week for my daughter on sale at $199!!! Now I'll have to check out the pearl ink to see if it's that much different. I love my touch Sony and have absolutely no complaints about service. When mine did go funny - it was back in my hands within 1 week!

JSWolf · 09-01-2010, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merbear

Should have paid more attention about when the new models were coming out darn it. I bought the PRS600 last April for $179 and then my sister bought one in June for $149 and I bought another last week for my daughter on sale at $199!!! Now I'll have to check out the pearl ink to see if it's that much different. I love my touch Sony and have absolutely no complaints about service. When mine did go funny - it was back in my hands within 1 week!

If you can, return your daughter's 600, give her your 600 and get a 650 for yourself.

SensualPoet · 09-01-2010, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by igorsk

Canada gets new models soon too. They also have a silver PRS-650! PRS-650 is $249.99 ("Available on or about 09/17/2010"), PRS-350 is $199.99 ("Available on or about 09/08/2010").

Sony's new devices are a welcome improvement: lighter, smaller, more stylish, improved touch, Pearl e-ink, dictionaries, etc.

But in Canada, in spite of the cachet of the Sony brand, the pricing is just out of whack. $249 for the 6" non-wifi PRS 650 vs $139 for the wifi-enabled Kindle 3 vs $149 for the basic model Kobo that plays ePub files. For Canada, the latter two have very credible bookstores as well; Sony's bookstore in Canada is problematic at best.

Sure, Sony in Canada can command a premium (Kindle's are only sold online), but not $100. And when the Kobo drops in a few days or weeks as it simply must, that's going to be up to a $150 premium -- more than double the price to select "Sony".

It's true Sony can try the trade-off: wifi vs touch screen but in the sales conversation that's simply not going to fly.

Sony: 5", touch screen, no wifi, problematic bookstore - $199; sony stores, best buy
Sony: 6", touch screen, no wifi, problematic bookstore - $249; sony stores, best buy
Kobo/Chapters: 6", no touch screen, no wifi, Canadian bookstore, easy to use - $99-$149; largest Canadian book chain, Wal-mart
Kindle 3/Amazon: 6", no touch screen, wifi, best bookstore, large support community - $139; amazon, a trusted provider of books, dvds

At this pricing, Sony has it's work cut out for it in Canada.

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09-01-2010, 08:31 AM	#48
EowynCarter Wizard Posts: 4,337 Karma: 4000000 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Paris Device: Cybooks; Sony PRS-T1	Or course they are not using B&N DRM. That would be stupid IMHO, when most shops selling ePub uses adept DRm. And barnes and noble being US only, I coudn't care less about not having acces there. You're seeing this from a us point of view, but using B&N drm means losing everyone not the the US. Sounds temping, if they add justify for ePub, it might be mine.

09-01-2010, 08:45 AM	#49
mikaelalind Fanatic Posts: 590 Karma: 788068 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Sweden Device: Sony PRS 505, Cybook Odessey	Sounds tempting, but I'll wait and see for reviews. Plus it will take awhile for it to come to Europe. And if they stick with the 1 dollar= 1 euro that's standard, the prices aren't that bad. Fyi, when PRS 600 was released in Sweden it cost 370 euro. Oi. Now it is only 270 euro...

09-01-2010, 10:16 AM	#57
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	Canada gets new models soon too. They also have a silver PRS-650! PRS-650 is $249.99 ("Available on or about 09/17/2010"), PRS-350 is $199.99 ("Available on or about 09/08/2010").

09-01-2010, 11:56 AM	#58
Merbear Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 67710 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Ontario Device: PRS-600 & Kobo & PRS-650, iTouch and iPad2	Should have paid more attention about when the new models were coming out darn it. I bought the PRS600 last April for $179 and then my sister bought one in June for $149 and I bought another last week for my daughter on sale at $199!!! Now I'll have to check out the pearl ink to see if it's that much different. I love my touch Sony and have absolutely no complaints about service. When mine did go funny - it was back in my hands within 1 week!

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