Germany gets the Sony Reader on March 11th, 2009

Alexander Turcic · 02-02-2009, 09:04 AM

E-book addicts in Germany, rejoice! The Sony Reader is coming to your town. More specifically, the Sony PRS-505 -- along with a "great" choice of e-books in ePub format -- is going to be available at Libri.de and in plenty of Thalia bookstores on March 11th, 2009. Price: EUR 299,00.

Preorder: here or here

Link to the press release: here

HarryT · 02-02-2009, 09:13 AM

Das ist eine ausgezeichnete Neuigkeit!

(Or should that be "Die ist"....?)

vivaldirules · 02-02-2009, 09:23 AM

Could someone please say what are all of the countries where the Sony Readers will be sold as of that date in addition to the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, and Germany?

zelda_pinwheel · 02-02-2009, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

Could someone please say what are all of the countries where the Sony Readers will be sold as of that date in addition to the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, and Germany?

also France, starting last autumn.

great news for Germany ! it's about time.

vivaldirules · 02-02-2009, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

also France, starting last autumn.

great news for Germany ! it's about time.

Wow, you mean someone in France has one?

Yes, it's excellent news for Germany. I'm hoping it will soon become widespread. Has it been or will it soon be released anywhere else?

HarryT · 02-02-2009, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

Wow, you mean someone in France has one?

Yes, it's excellent news for Germany. I'm hoping it will soon become widespread. Has it been or will it soon be released anywhere else?

I would image that it would be rolled out in countries like Spain soon, but I suppose they need to arrange local deals with book stores, eBook distributers, etc, before they can do that. In every European country that it's so far been released in, it's being sold primarily via large chains of bookstores.

Alexander Turcic · 02-02-2009, 09:37 AM

Not sure when it will be released elsewhere in Europe (like Switzerland for example, which is at least 1/3 German-speaking), but what I am curious about is whether I will entitled to purchase e-books from Librie.de using a Sony reader from the US.

HarryT · 02-02-2009, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

Not sure when it will be released elsewhere in Europe (like Switzerland for example, which is at least 1/3 German-speaking), but what I am curious about is whether I will entitled to purchase e-books from Librie.de using a Sony reader from the US.

I don't see why you shouldn't be able to. Anyone can buy books from Waterstones, for example, who are Sony's UK "partner" - it's not a "locked down" store like the Sony eBook store is. Is the situation similar in France, Zelda?

zelda_pinwheel · 02-02-2009, 10:06 AM

I imagine so. Sony's partner in France is the Fnac chain / Hachette ; they don't have a very wide selection yet and the website is very basic and needs work from an ergonomic standpoint but i don't think there is any reason to believe that there are restrictions on who can buy books from them.

Alexander Turcic · 02-02-2009, 10:26 AM

From what I heard the German e-book offering for the Sony will also be somewhat limited. I heard the focus lied on "quality" rather than "quantity"...

HarryT · 02-02-2009, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

I heard the focus lied on "quality" rather than "quantity"...

That's no bad thing, certainly, provided that the range is at least reasonable.

pozo · 02-02-2009, 11:21 AM

Pretty overpriced though, when compared to 210 euro in the US (without ship/handle to EU) and 255 euro at Waterstones UK (S&H to Netherlands included).
No reason not to buy from Waterstones it seems, you'll get the same EU warranty.

Nice that there will be more support for non-English eBooks though.

mtravellerh · 02-02-2009, 11:27 AM

I find it quite interesting that Libri's ebookshop is heavily based on the epub format. LRF is not even mentioned!

zelda_pinwheel · 02-02-2009, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtravellerh

I find it quite interesting that Libri's ebookshop is heavily based on the epub format. LRF is not even mentioned!

it's the same at the fnac. since they only sell the 505, there is no need for lrf, and i think it's good to get away from proprietary formats and promote the new standard. i'm sure you're all stunned to hear me say that.

hekkel · 02-02-2009, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

I imagine so. Sony's partner in France is the Fnac chain / Hachette ; they don't have a very wide selection yet and the website is very basic and needs work from an ergonomic standpoint but i don't think there is any reason to believe that there are restrictions on who can buy books from them.

I can confirm this, I've bought books both from Waterstone's (UK) and from Numilog (France) in ePub format for my Sony which I bought in the US. And I'm living in the Netherlands. Unfortunately we don't have contemporary Dutch literature in ePub format yet, but I've been told that will change soon.

-maarten

02-02-2009, 09:04 AM	#1
Alexander Turcic Fully Converged Posts: 18,163 Karma: 14021202 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Switzerland Device: Too many to count here.	Germany gets the Sony Reader on March 11th, 2009 E-book addicts in Germany, rejoice! The Sony Reader is coming to your town. More specifically, the Sony PRS-505 -- along with a "great" choice of e-books in ePub format -- is going to be available at Libri.de and in plenty of Thalia bookstores on March 11th, 2009. Price: EUR 299,00. Preorder: here or here Link to the press release: here

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02-02-2009, 09:13 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Das ist eine ausgezeichnete Neuigkeit! (Or should that be "Die ist"....?)

02-02-2009, 09:23 AM	#3
vivaldirules When's Doughnut Day? Posts: 10,059 Karma: 13675475 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Houston, TX, US Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad	Could someone please say what are all of the countries where the Sony Readers will be sold as of that date in addition to the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, and Germany?

02-02-2009, 09:37 AM	#7
Alexander Turcic Fully Converged Posts: 18,163 Karma: 14021202 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Switzerland Device: Too many to count here.	Not sure when it will be released elsewhere in Europe (like Switzerland for example, which is at least 1/3 German-speaking), but what I am curious about is whether I will entitled to purchase e-books from Librie.de using a Sony reader from the US.

02-02-2009, 10:06 AM	#9
zelda_pinwheel zeldinha zippy zeldissima Posts: 27,827 Karma: 921169 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paris, France Device: eb1150 & is that a nook in her pocket, or she just happy to see you?	I imagine so. Sony's partner in France is the Fnac chain / Hachette ; they don't have a very wide selection yet and the website is very basic and needs work from an ergonomic standpoint but i don't think there is any reason to believe that there are restrictions on who can buy books from them.

02-02-2009, 10:26 AM	#10
Alexander Turcic Fully Converged Posts: 18,163 Karma: 14021202 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Switzerland Device: Too many to count here.	From what I heard the German e-book offering for the Sony will also be somewhat limited. I heard the focus lied on "quality" rather than "quantity"...

02-02-2009, 11:21 AM	#12
pozo Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Sony PRS-505/SC (UK)	Pretty overpriced though, when compared to 210 euro in the US (without ship/handle to EU) and 255 euro at Waterstones UK (S&H to Netherlands included). No reason not to buy from Waterstones it seems, you'll get the same EU warranty. Nice that there will be more support for non-English eBooks though.

02-02-2009, 11:27 AM	#13
mtravellerh book creator Posts: 9,635 Karma: 3856660 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Luxembourg Device: PB360°	I find it quite interesting that Libri's ebookshop is heavily based on the epub format. LRF is not even mentioned!

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