Finally, new Sony rumors

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by Boston

a fingernail (or sausage/condom) thread.

I will bet that this phrase has not been said, much less written, before in any language in the entire history of mankind.

[Boston]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

You can get pens for capacatitive screens - look on Amazon for "capacatitive stylus". These are not ideal in my experience, but are OK (and for the limited use required when reading should be fine). That should solve the fingernail problem.

That's good to know..but a stylus defeats the convenience of the touchscreen imo and I have a tendency to lose them . In fact, even in the old Palm Pilot days, I just used my finger(nails) - in those days they came in handy

I love my PRS-505. I don't need wifi or a touchscreen to read. If Sony came out with a product similar to my 505 with the faster page turns, improved clarity, longer battery, 2 GB memory, 5 or 6" screen at a price less than the new Kindle - I would buy it in a heartbeat.

[luqmaninbmore]

Originally Posted by Harmon

Nice to know. That's not true on the iPad but I see they have a nonoperational "Buy" button on the last page so maybe it's in the works.

AFAIK, Apple prohibits sales within non-Apple apps. That is why you have to buy Kindle books within Safari and not within the Kindle app.

Luqman

[Squirsier]

Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore

AFAIK, Apple prohibits sales within non-Apple apps. That is why you have to buy Kindle books within Safari and not within the Kindle app.

Luqman

Weird, because I can buy comic books just fine from the Marvel app itself... Wouldn't that be the same thing as buying a book from the kindle app?

[kjk]

Originally Posted by Squirsier

Weird, because I can buy comic books just fine from the Marvel app itself... Wouldn't that be the same thing as buying a book from the kindle app?

Apple takes a 30% cut of all in-app purchases. I'm guessing that is why vendors like Amazon would rather not make book purchases in-app.

[Squirsier]

Originally Posted by kjk

Apple takes a 30% cut of all in-app purchases. I'm guessing that is why vendors like Amazon would rather not make book purchases in-app.

Good point, that makes sense, thanks for clearing that out...

So, on topic, can't wait for pics, probably will get me the 650 model for sure, after having owned the 300 for almost a year, it's time for an upgrade

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by HarryT

In the photo in the article, it looks as if the sausage has been put inside a condom to prevent this. I'm not sure I'd want to use that in a public place, myself .

I assume ribbed for improved traction, right?

[roger the rabbit]

Originally Posted by Boston

snip!
I love my PRS-505. I don't need wifi or a touchscreen to read. If Sony came out with a product similar to my 505 with the faster page turns, improved clarity, longer battery, 2 GB memory, 5 or 6" screen at a price less than the new Kindle - I would buy it in a heartbeat.

I'm with that 101%

[astra]

I played with 600 in a local Waterstones.
Touch screen didn't impress me at all. Sometimes I had to swipe twice to turn a page. Frustrating. When you read a book you don't want to be distracted with h/w issues, it should work smoothly on the background in order to keep a reader in the book's world.
The glare problem is a huge problem. I don't know about 900, but in 600 it is definitely an issue.

[shanghaichica]

I think I will give these a miss and stick with the kindle 3 I've ordered. They don't really offer much more than the prs-300 I already have and I'm not interested in a touch screen reader. All I need is a simple button to turn the pages. The screen would get dirty and would have to be cleaned. Even when I used my iPhone to read, the touch screen was quite annoying. Plus there is the issue of how responsive the touch screen would be. Plus I think the touch screen would affect the contrast and introduce glare.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by shanghaichica

Plus I think the touch screen would affect the contrast and introduce glare.

We have already discussed this earlier in the thread. A resistive touch screen, such as the current Sony Readers have, affects image quality. A capacitive touch screen (such as the iPad has) or a Wacom touch screen (such as the iRex devices and the BeBook Neo use) has no impact at all upon image quality.

Wow, a lot of internet buzz over a SINGLE, UNCONFIRMED, and QUESTIONABLE article from the Sony Insider. I spent a couple of hours reading articles from different sources on the internet and they all harp back to that one source, yet they vary wildly (embellish?) what that one rumor states. I would not get too exited until more facts surface. For one thing, any device with WiFi or 3G has to get FCC approval in the USA, and I checked the FCC site yesterday and could find NO applications for readers from Sony. They might have applications pending, but i was unable to find one.

I personally hope Sony stays in the competition as that will be good for the industry. But knowing Sony, I suspect they will either drop out of the reader business like they did the PDA business, or they will continue to offer lackluster touchscreen technology that is simply horrible. If they do replace the 300, their last remaining non-touchscreen reader, with a touchscreen model, they will probably exit the reader business whether they intend to or not. If they are smart, they will re-introduce a 6" non-touchscreen model.

But regardless of new models, Sony needs to create a better eBook store and reader software. Get rid of that crappy garbage that is developed in Flash and hire some real programmers to get it fixed. Then Sony needs to decide to push reader technology rather than simply taking a half-hearted approach. Until Sony puts their corporate weight behind it and shows they are truly committed to readers and ebooks, they won't be a serious competitor.

Just to show you how sites are taking the Sony Insider article as fact, rather than rumor, and how some sites are embellishing it: Here is a quote from http://www.geekwithlaptop.com/new-so...eat-the-kindle

"Sony is looking to take back its e-book crown with the launch of a pair of brand-new Reader devices – but will they be able to tempt buyers away from Amazon’s new Kindle eReader?"

I don't think this guy would know an ebook reader if he saw one. And since when is 10% or less of the market share considered a crown?

As a historical note, I remember all the buzz about a new line of Sony Clie PDAs that were rumored to be soon released. Then Sony made an abrubt announcement that they were leaving the PDA business and killing the Clie line.

[simplyparticular]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Wow, a lot of internet buzz over a SINGLE, UNCONFIRMED, and QUESTIONABLE article from the Sony Insider.

Well, I certainly agree with how web "journalism" has taken a unsubstantiated blog post and twisted it into a full blown product release (and yet some of those same sources will print a manufacturers press release verbatim!), there does appear to be a little more to the story now.

http://www.teleread.com/2010/08/16/n...-find-out-soon

I can't imagine Sony contacting Teleread weeks in advance for a presentation for anything other than a product announcement. I'm not aware of Sony hosting "funerals" for product lines.

I do wonder if Sony has any plans for additional product distribution. Now that Borders is also featuring the Kobo and Aluratek lines, Sony is going to need to cast a wider net to be the luxury reader. Department stores like Macy's carry electronics in the Christmas season. A display in their 800+ US stores wouldn't hurt.

[porkupan]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Wow, a lot of internet buzz over a SINGLE, UNCONFIRMED, and QUESTIONABLE article from the Sony Insider.

Yes, I agree. There has been only one rumor, and an unreliable one at best. So, there's no reason to blow it into a big "news", as there has been no news, really. But the tech blogs like to speculate, that's how they develop the buzz...

Originally Posted by jswinden

If they do replace the 300, their last remaining non-touchscreen reader, with a touchscreen model, they will probably exit the reader business whether they intend to or not. If they are smart, they will re-introduce a 6" non-touchscreen model.

You sound like one of those people who like to predict Sony's demise based on their using touchscreen technology in their readers. However, the touchscreen may be their only way to differentiate themselves from the other readers out there. The current Sony Readers are not nearly as "horrible" as you seem to believe, and the touchscreen technologies are not frozen in time either. That is not to say that Sony will not use the same touchscreen in all the new models that everyone likes to complain about. We simply don't know yet.

Originally Posted by jswinden

Get rid of that crappy garbage that is developed in Flash and hire some real programmers to get it fixed.

The Sony eBook Store interface is not developed in Flash.

Originally Posted by jswinden

Until Sony puts their corporate weight behind it and shows they are truly committed to readers and ebooks, they won't be a serious competitor.

Originally Posted by jswinden

And since when is 10% or less of the market share considered a crown?

They are a serious competitor already. They have been in this market longer than anybody else including the maker of your own ebook reader(s). And 10% or less market share - where did you get that from? Sources? I think they a quite a bit more than 10% in the U.S., and much more than 10% in the world.