Hot: Sony plans Reader successor for this year

[yvanleterrible]

Well put scotty1024!

The main thing we should not forget is that the Reader was created for Connect book sales. When you read the Reader manual, every reference to it is by the term "Connect Reader". Meaning books is it's main purpose. Every funtionality that would point to an other market is not of prime importance in it's design.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Fugubot

If this is a thread about the NEXT generation of Sony's reader, why are people requesting new features for the current edition? Assuming that Sony has finite resources, it is more likely that it will save new features for the new machine rather than work on improving the old model.

When Microsoft release a new version of Windows CE, I don't have to go out and buy a new Pocket PC; I can re-flash the ROM of my current HP iPaq Pocket PC and gain the features of the new version.

I would sincerely hope that Sony will add such things as a hierarchical file system and make that available on the current Reader. Absolutely no technical reason this couldn't and shouldn't be done.

If course if they change the hardware - eg add a touch screen, colour, WiFi, or whatever, one would have to buy a "next generation" machine to take advantage of the new hardware, but simple software changes would, I hope, be made available to people who've bought the older machines.

[RWood]

Remember the Osborn II? It was the first portable (CP/M) computer for business. The Osborn I sold like hot cakes and had a majority of the market. They announced the new II version and sales dried up on the I so much that the one product company went out of business.

Now just a few months after launch the President (Managing Director) of Sony starts telling what will be in the next version. Heck, by this time we all know that there will be a next version of any good product. We just didn't expect it so soon.

What will happen is that those people that just can't live without the new features will get a new unit and then unload their current unit to someone else who likes and wants a Sony Reader but just can't see paying $350 for it. There will be a nice aftermarket for the Reader -- perhaps in these forums.

[Kosst Amojan]

Originally Posted by RWood

What will happen is that those people that just can't live without the new features will get a new unit and then unload their current unit to someone else who likes and wants a Sony Reader but just can't see paying $350 for it.

Exactly, there is no way I'm paying another $350 for at least another 2 years. I still need to get a new cell phone and PDA.

[rmeister0]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

Firstly, Sony is sticking firmly to their plans to create a market for e-books. According to Stringer, U.S. sales of the Sony Reader is better than expected. And what's more: Sales of downloadable e-books are exceeding the sales of music on Sony's online Connect Store. Who would have known!

I know I'm a contrarian, but can't this also be interpreted as "sales of music suck so bad that even the e-books are outselling us?"

Downloadable music is a crowded market, and even Zune seems to have more defenders than Connect.

[Peaston Ewe]

Originally Posted by TadW

I am not very keen on wireless either (wireless = high power consumption). But a new Reader may include other improvements... who knows, perhaps with a newer E Ink screen, or a better keyboard layout?

I agreed wholeheartedly. The Reader is designed specifically to READ ! and it has done well there. The control(s) are something I hope to see huge improvement upon. E-Ink is a beauty to be hold and it's just the beginning and so was the original Lightsaber ! ha!

[geekraver]

Both touch screen and wireless would be great additions, where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Plus an SDK of course so that we can do better things than Sony...

On an unrelated note, the Zune really is pretty cool. Yes, I work for MSFT, but I'm not a zealot (I have Windows PCs at home, as well as a Mac (overrated, IMO - sheesh, you can't even seem to copy/move/delete two files in parallel, or maybe I'm just stupid) and a Linux server (which is where those published rss2book feeds live :-) ). I own a Zen Vison M, my wife has an iPod. But I got to play with a Zune for a few days and it has a great UI, fantastic screen, and excellent sound. If MSFT opened it up to developers it would make a pretty good e-book reader! The music sharing things doesn't interest me, but having wifi in the device nontheless offers a lot of potential for interesting updates in the future. I think a lot of criticism of Zune is ill-informed knee-jerk Microsoft bashing, which is something I've never liked even in my pre-MSFT days when I was a hardcore FreeBSD guy.

[Leaping Gnome]

High book sales are excellent news. Hopefully that will lead to better Connect software/store support and more selection.

Who says they can't have two versions out? The PRS-500 as a base model, with a mild price reduction, and then a higher model with the wireless and whatever else they decide to throw on it which is more expensive.

[yvanleterrible]

There is a bad side to high book sales as they are; they will be prompted to maintain their high prices!

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

There is a bad side to high book sales as they are; they will be prompted to maintain their high prices!

For now. If it looks like an easily herded cash cow then others will push harder to get in on it.

'Course, then that leads to over-saturation, shoddy sites and bad experiences but then eventually it would settle out leaving the ones that actually end up being supported by sales and traffic.

[bob_ninja]

What exactly is the surprise here????? Of course they will release a new version.
As most of the current owners pointed out there are a lot of issues and shortcomings.
It is obvious that they will fix some of them and release a new version ASAP. WiFi is just a simple obvious incremental imrpovement to the hardware. The version 1.0 of anything always has a very short lifespan. What is the problem here?????

WiFi is one of those things that you ignore and think little about it until you try it and realize how useful it really is. Of course, at home using wires once in a blue moon is bot a big deal. Even so it is tiring. Especially dealing with the cables that never stay in place, and cats play with and pull out, and kids pull out, and .... Of course, you can never find the right cable when you need it.

Also when you are on the move, like someone mentioned a coffee shop, you probably don't have a cable handy and/or won't bother. Now for books it is clear that WiFi is not important. You donwload them once per month at most. Fine.

Reader is for reading any content, not just books. I could read newspapers, magazines, etc. Say you visit the bookstore and wish to purchase a couple of magazines. We do it all the time, right. Turns out the store has a 20% discount for eMagazines. You just bring your reader to the cash register, punch in magazine codes and use WiFi to download to the reader, pay and go. Common sense. After all we simply throw away paper after reading them, so why bother with paper??? The key missing feature for this use case is WiFi.

Sure color is also necessary, but that will come too. For daily black and white news papers the current reader is fine. Just needs WiFi.

Regarding battery drain, it can be fixed by having a simple button to enable/disable WiFi. I have it on my laptop. Simple.

So yes, WiFi is super-cool feature to add. Still, I hope and assume that most of the effort will go into fixing the issues with the current version and WiFi is just a bonus.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by rmeister0

I know I'm a contrarian, but can't this also be interpreted as "sales of music suck so bad that even the e-books are outselling us?"

That's the first thing I thought of, too. Sure, Connect Tunes isn't doing as well as iTunes is... no one is. So, saying their e-books are outselling their tunes may not be saying much. Still, it is positive progress for Connect Books.

I wouldn't have expected an announcement on a new reader this soon, either... seems to be way too soon. On the other hand, I always knew Sony was actively feeling the market out, and would be making hardware changes based on responses to the first reader. As long as they continue to support the first reader, I don't think it's a big deal. If they continue to offer the first reader, and discount it... even better. But if they snub the early-adopters... I wouldn't want to be in the path of that s**t-storm.

[Aprilbeginnings]

Originally Posted by Madam Broshkina

It seems like bad business sense for Sony to announce a new reader. This cannot help sales of the PRS-500. Why would anyone buy the PRS-500 knowing that a new and improved product is on the way. Right now I am very satisfied with my reader. There would have to be significant improvements for this new reader to make me interested in buying it. Of course if Sony would offer a discounted price for those of us who already have purchased the PRS-500 I might consider getting the new model.

Interesting but after what we paid of this thing? Although I would love to see improvements, I can't see dishing out more money on another. Actually this is doing the exact purpose I got it for. Read my books that I have acquired <cough cough>

[Leaping Gnome]

They said sometime this year. For all we know it might come out after Thanksgiving, a year plus after the first version.

[FangornUK]

The Sony report is great news, as they consider the product a success it will have a future!

The interest in the UK for this device is very high, based on feedback from people who've seen mine and my relatives'.