PRS-600 New firmware for previous readers?

[wolfing]

With the new PRS-350 and PRS-650 announced, including ePub with justification, will they release firmware updates for the PRS-300 and PRS-600 with the improvements?

[igorsk]

Nope

There won’t be any firmware updates for the current models, and the new models will not be getting the new DRM that B&N are using.

[trevgriff]

Originally Posted by igorsk

Nope

Can you tell us where you got this information?

[RonF]

Originally Posted by trevgriff

Can you tell us where you got this information?

Looks like it's from this article:
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...ing-this-fall/

[trevgriff]

Originally Posted by RonF

Looks like it's from this article:
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...ing-this-fall/

At least to me it doesn't look like that information came straight from Sony. I seem to remember receiving several firmware updates to both my 500 and then my 505. I just can't imagine that the newer 600 or 900 readers would not get a firmware sooner or later.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by trevgriff

Can you tell us where you got this information?

It came from me, and I got it from Sony. Here is what Sony said, specifically:

As far as I know, no changes to the Adobe DRM. Also, no plans for a firmware update for past products.

[Mike_73]

Well, that kind of sucks. How old is my 600??? I've been using it for about 7 months and it's allready "old".

Not exactly how you keep your customers happy.

I get it when they say they won't put out anything for 500/505. At some point, gadgets seem to be meant to be replaced. But 7 months???

[wolfing]

Wow, if that's the case, my PRS-600 was the first and last Sony reader I'll get.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by wolfing

Wow, if that's the case, my PRS-600 was the first and last Sony reader I'll get.

I think you need to let Sony know this directly. I wrote their customer care yesterday and said that I had planned on preordering the 950 as soon as it was available until I learned that the B&N flavor of DRM was not going to be supported. Now I'm inclined to wait and see what reading devices other manufacturers come out with. I specifically wrote "Sony went from an assured to sale to a probable no sale because of this decision."

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by Mike_73

Well, that kind of sucks. How old is my 600??? I've been using it for about 7 months and it's allready "old".

Not exactly how you keep your customers happy.

I get it when they say they won't put out anything for 500/505. At some point, gadgets seem to be meant to be replaced. But 7 months???

I'm a bit baffled by this myself.

Sony recently offered an ePUB update for the PRS-500 for free, and it was a hardware change. That's real money there, not just the hardware and labor, but the shipping too.

A firmware update should be very simple for them to produce. I don't see any limiting factor, unless it's contractual with Adobe (who really deserves our ire at this, and the 3 different DRM schemes for ePUB).

-Pie

[tovare]

I find the software in the PRS-600 to be very stable, I've never managed to crash it once.

@wolfing The K3, which I expect will get a firmware update soon, is very crash-prone. Although I've would have liked a few tweeks to the PRS-600, I really do appreciate Sony releasing finnished products. I don't think frequent firmware upgrades is a good meassure to choose an e-reader brand ... it's a device that should just work .. more like a digital watch and less like a windows PC.

[etienne66]

I have to agree with Tovare about the stability of the PRS-600, but that is still no excuse for Sony not to bring some of the same updates to the PRS-600 that they are introducing in the PRS-650. I can understand them not including the additional dictionaries that they have on the PRS-650 since that would require additional licensing, but they should provide auto-cropping of PDFs, full justification of epub files and hopefully support for Cyrillic letters without having to load your own font-file.

I can just look at my PS3 to see that they do provide periodic updates for other devices.

All that being said, I will probably upgrade to the PRS-650 for the less reflective screen while still having touchscreen support. I also understand it is sharper with higher contrast.

Etienne66

[Rydertheblack]

Originally Posted by etienne66

I have to agree with Tovare about the stability of the PRS-600, but that is still no excuse for Sony not to bring some of the same updates to the PRS-600 that they are introducing in the PRS-650. I can understand them not including the additional dictionaries that they have on the PRS-650 since that would require additional licensing, but they should provide auto-cropping of PDFs, full justification of epub files and hopefully support for Cyrillic letters without having to load your own font-file.

I can just look at my PS3 to see that they do provide periodic updates for other devices.

All that being said, I will probably upgrade to the PRS-650 for the less reflective screen while still having touchscreen support. I also understand it is sharper with higher contrast.

Etienne66

it doesn't have it... why am i saying this? because i got one

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by tovare

I find the software in the PRS-600 to be very stable, I've never managed to crash it once.

Every Reader I've owned has been very stable, though the PRS-600 is the least of them. It may be a hardware issue, however.

The major frustration users have right now is not stability, but very poor ePUB support, which was initially terrible, and has only gotten incrementally better. The new Readers fix the single biggest complaint, lack of justification. It would be nice if Sony brought this fix down to their loyal customers who own older models.

In terms of the PS3 getting updates, that was already an established billion dollar market, with many years in the making, and a giant engineering team behind it. The Readers are new, and simply don't have the support infrastructure at Sony like the PS3. That's no excuse for the general lack of updates for the Readers, but it is the major reason you can't really compare the Reader support to the PS3.

-Pie

[rebarnmom]

Originally Posted by Mike_73

Well, that kind of sucks. How old is my 600??? I've been using it for about 7 months and it's allready "old".

Not exactly how you keep your customers happy.

I get it when they say they won't put out anything for 500/505. At some point, gadgets seem to be meant to be replaced. But 7 months???

Isn't this the nature of technology, as soon as you amass a collection of something (8-track tapes, cassettes, CDs...), there's something better out there. These days innovation seems to be moving at lightening speed! The moment you purchase something it practically becomes obsolete.

Originally Posted by EatingPie

I'm a bit baffled by this myself.

Sony recently offered an ePUB update for the PRS-500 for free, and it was a hardware change. That's real money there, not just the hardware and labor, but the shipping too.

A firmware update should be very simple for them to produce. I don't see any limiting factor, unless it's contractual with Adobe (who really deserves our ire at this, and the 3 different DRM schemes for ePUB).

-Pie

As a PRS 700 owner, I've been begging for a firmware update, ever since they came out with the Touch 600 and it's integrated dictionary. Everyone said that it should be a reasonably easy thing to do for the 700, but nothing's ever come of that. I'm still happy with my Sony and believe I've gotten my money's worth of enjoyment out of it and then some. It won't stop me from considering a new Sony really soon, as funds become available anyway.