Sony's new chapter in digital reading: October 2nd

[HarryT]

I don't think you roll out a device into a major new market (and remember than Europe has a larger population and a larger combined economy than the US) to "shift old stock".

[athlonkmf]

A new model is possible, if the new model is not competing with the current.

They can release a no-nonsense ultracheap plastic reader which is less than the half the price of the PRS505

Or they can release an ultradeluxe 9" model which is twice as expensive as the 505.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by athlonkmf

A new model is possible, if the new model is not competing with the current.

They can release a no-nonsense ultracheap plastic reader which is less than the half the price of the PRS505

Or they can release an ultradeluxe 9" model which is twice as expensive as the 505.

I seriously doubt it's possible to make an eInk device for "less than half the price" of the PRS505 at present.

9" screens don't exist. Sony can only use components that they can get their hands on - where are these mythical 9" screens of yours going to come from? .

[JayCeeEll]

Could it be Sony announcing their version of a reader with a Plastic Logic display, aimed at the business/academic markets?

[bwaldron]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It would be a VERY odd decision to introduce a new model just as they are rolling out the "current" model across Europe.

And in a major chain of stores (Target) in the US.

[grooks]

Originally Posted by JayCeeEll

Could it be Sony announcing their version of a reader with a Plastic Logic display, aimed at the business/academic markets?

Would Plastic Logic allow another company to beat them to the market with their own display?

[HarryT]

It seems clear that the PL screen is far from ready for "mass production" yet. In one of the interviews quoted they said that only one prototype currently exists.

[Leaping Gnome]

Does anyone approve "front page" posts? At least a semblance of proper capitalization and punctuation would be nice!

[mattgb]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don't think you roll out a device into a major new market (and remember than Europe has a larger population and a larger combined economy than the US) to "shift old stock".

I think it is quite likely that if a new model is released (esp if with WiFi or 3G or something) that it will only be officially available in the US/Canada initially. What with Kindle taking off in the US, it already having a wireless ability, the issues with licensing and serving wireless content worldwide and also the US having the most mature market (outside Japan I guess) then, if I were a Sony Fatcat, then that is exactly where I would concentrate on next (in tandem with building a market in Europe).

Hence this should not affect European sales too much; i.e. for the great majority of purchasers (those who go into Waterstones & buy one for Christmas or on impulse or whatever; i.e. those same people who go and buy their TV from Currys without checking out the specs/prices/availability online) they won't care (or even know) that there is a sexier version available on the other side of the pond.

Obviously for us early (-ish in my case) adopters it will be a major frustration (I know, I know, `C'est la vie` and all that but it doesn't stop it being major frustrating ).

Either that or it will be a totally wet fart - i.e. a relaunch with pretty colours and a price-drop .

[ludlow]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

Oh that's wonderful... yesterday my Sony Reader cracked when someone comfortably leaned on it with one of his knees (I had to watch in painful slow motion).

Now, my parents are going to be in New York City next week, and I was going to ask them to fetch me a new Reader at the Sony Style store. What am I going to do now? Cancel the purchase and wait for what October 2nd will bring? GRRRR.

i have the sony reader, just got it, does someone make an armoured case for it, like they do the palm devices, i would buy one in a heart beat.

[WillAdams]

Some sort of add-on expansion or tie-in book market deal seems the most likely to me --- say a WiFi SD card as others have discussed --- what book formats which support DRM are not yet on the Sony? Support for one of those perhaps?

Or, since it supports .pdf files, a way to d/l and read Google Books?

Or some sort of tie-in deal w/ major newspapers and magazines and an updated software program which auto-downloads and synchs such overnight? (say w/ a docking station for the Reader).

William

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Leaping Gnome

Does anyone approve "front page" posts? At least a semblance of proper capitalization and punctuation would be nice!

um... I wrote this particular front page post, and while it is true I did not capitalize the first letter of the last 3 sentences (corrected now for your reading comfort) I'm not sure what punctuation issues you might be referring to precisely. I'm pretty sure that my punctuation can generally pass for "proper" and I don't see any glaring mistakes in this article, would you care to enlighten me ?

[Taylor514ce]

Zee: multiple punctuation marks (such as "???") and spaces between the mark and the last word. Hey, you asked. I love you anyway.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

Zee: multiple punctuation marks (such as "???") and spaces between the mark and the last word. Hey, you asked. I love you anyway.

Actually, in french it is correct to use a space before and after any "double" punctuation mark (so : ; ! ? etc.) but only after a "single" one (like , .). Sorry if this is incorrect in english ; it's a reflex for me.

As for multiple question marks or exclamation points... Well, perhaps that is incorrect, but I think that we are in a setting is sufficiently informal to permit such stylistic liberties to express one's enthusiasm or emphasis. Perhaps a bit of indulgence is not too much to ask.

In my defense, I do generally make a special effort to use proper capitalisation in front-page posts, including this one, where only 3 capital letters were missing (that has been corrected already).

[mazzeltjes]

Originally Posted by mattgb

I think it is quite likely that if a new model is released (esp if with WiFi or 3G or something) that it will only be officially available in the US/Canada initially. What with Kindle taking off in the US, it already having a wireless ability, the issues with licensing and serving wireless content worldwide and also the US having the most mature market (outside Japan I guess) then, if I were a Sony Fatcat, then that is exactly where I would concentrate on next (in tandem with building a market in Europe).

Hence this should not affect European sales too much; i.e. for the great majority of purchasers (those who go into Waterstones & buy one for Christmas or on impulse or whatever; i.e. those same people who go and buy their TV from Currys without checking out the specs/prices/availability online) they won't care (or even know) that there is a sexier version available on the other side of the pond.

Obviously for us early (-ish in my case) adopters it will be a major frustration (I know, I know, `C'est la vie` and all that but it doesn't stop it being major frustrating ).

Either that or it will be a totally wet fart - i.e. a relaunch with pretty colours and a price-drop .

My reasoning as well