Sony will launch next generation ereader tomorrow

OrcaBlue · 09-01-2010, 01:19 AM

According to this ZDNet article, the new Sony new ereaders will price at $179, $229, and $299 for the Pocket, Touch, and Daily Edition respectively. No word on the type of screen yet. Only the Daily Edition will have Wifi and 3G. No word on whether it will have Pearl screen or not.

You can read the full article here.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/sony-l...g-matter/38624

OrcaBlue · 09-01-2010, 01:31 AM

Another article confirmed they're porting the new Pearl screen.

"All of the Readers now use the Pearl V220 E Ink technology and can read books in the EPUB and PDF formats"

http://www.twice.com/article/456567-...eader_Line.php

ardeegee · 09-01-2010, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrcaBlue

will price at $179, $229, and $299 for the Pocket, Touch, and Daily Edition respectively

You've got to be effing kidding me! The Pocket should be at least as cheap as the Wi-Fi Kindle 3 and the Touch at least as cheap as the 3G Kindle 3.

Realistic prices-- if they want to sell these-- is $129 for the Pocket and $179 for the Touch.

bill_mchale · 09-01-2010, 02:08 AM

I know Sony said they weren't going to compete on price... but what exactly are they competing on? If you are going to charge a premium over the best selling devices (Kindle and Nook in the US I presume), then it better have something going for it... and I am afraid for Sony that I just don't see a touch screen being that thing (I think wireless and ebook store integration is a bigger deal for people who want something more than a basic reader).

Ironically, the pocket edition again might be the star of the ball. While still a big step up in price from where the PRS-300 is selling, it still leaves it the cheapest 5" ereader with an e-Ink screen (I assume that this all means that the PRS-300 is being discontinued).

A few other questions.

1. Will they all have fixed epub formatting?
2. Will they still support LRF?

Final thought, Sony might think it is too early in the game for low pricing, but I disagree, Amazon and B&N both are competing on price. I think Sony's biggest problem is that they are essentially operating as a hardware company, not a media company.

--
Bill

OrcaBlue · 09-01-2010, 02:10 AM

I agree with you. At that price, it will be hard to compete with Kindle 3.

That said I wouldn't mind pay a higher price since I like the Touch screen and use it quite a bit. I don't really care about Wi-Fi and 3G that much when it comes to getting books on my reader.

The important question would be whether the new touch screens still have "glares" or not.

Lilly · 09-01-2010, 02:22 AM

Sony will still support LRF but not BBeB (DRM scheme). The PRS-300 is not discontinued, Sony will now go completely touchscreen with the new screen technology. They have also been able to remove the extra layer of screen between the touch so I can't wait to see if that completely eliminate any glare issues. Sony believes that touch technology distinguished them from the mass. I did participate in a private survey for Sony in June and there were quite a few questions on touchscreen versus wireless. Some of the questions that were asked was if wireless is important to you in an ebook device and also if you can choose between wireless or touch screen which one would you want your reader to have?

bill_mchale · 09-01-2010, 02:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lilly

Sony will still support LRF but BBeB (DRM scheme). The PRS-300 is not discontinued, Sony will now go completely touchscreen with the new screen technology. They have also been able to remove the extra layer of screen between the touch so I can't wait to see if that completely eliminate any glare issues. Sony believes that touch technology distinguished them from the mass. I did participate in a private survey for Sony in June and there were quite a few questions on touchscreen versus wireless. Some of the questions that were asked was if wireless is important to you in an ebook device and also if you can choose between wireless or touch screen which one would you want your reader to have?

The problem with customer survey's is that customers often say one thing and do another. There are a variety of reasons for it depending on the product. In the USA, in what 3 years, Sony went from the only real player in town for dedicated ebook readers to at best the third place contender behind the Kindle and Nook. Both Kindle and Nook are set up such that readers can get books without ever having to connect to a computer... and yet Sony is still limiting that to the Daily Edition? In addition, they have had touch screens for a year now and yet the PRS-300 has been their best seller...

--
Bill

superstitious · 09-01-2010, 02:31 AM

Thanks for this. I am curious to see how they are perceived compare to other devices with a cheaper price point.

Lilly · 09-01-2010, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

The problem with customer survey's is that customers often say one thing and do another. There are a variety of reasons for it depending on the product. In the USA, in what 3 years, Sony went from the only real player in town for dedicated ebook readers to at best the third place contender behind the Kindle and Nook. Both Kindle and Nook are set up such that readers can get books without ever having to connect to a computer... and yet Sony is still limiting that to the Daily Edition? In addition, they have had touch screens for a year now and yet the PRS-300 has been their best seller...

--
Bill

From how I read the survey questions, I think Sony believes that the touch technology was not the real issue but the quality of the screens. I'm concluding that they felt if they can eliminate the screen quality issues, then touch is the way they want to distinguish themselves. I think the new PRS-650 have wireless capability. I don't know if it's 3g or wifi but the PRS-950 does have both.

yakuzaboss · 09-01-2010, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrcaBlue

According to this ZDNet article, the new Sony new ereaders will price at $179, $229, and $299 for the Pocket, Touch, and Daily Edition respectively. No word on the type of screen yet. Only the Daily Edition will have Wifi and 3G. No word on whether it will have Pearl screen or not.

You can read the full article here.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/sony-l...g-matter/38624

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrcaBlue

Another article confirmed they're porting the new Pearl screen.

"All of the Readers now use the Pearl V220 E Ink technology and can read books in the EPUB and PDF formats"

http://www.twice.com/article/456567-...eader_Line.php

Good to know. I'm quite interested in the new Sony Readers. The pearl screen is definitely a plus.

FizzyWater · 09-01-2010, 02:49 AM

And if I read the article correctly, doing away with that extra layer for the touchscreen. My one question about the ZDNet blog is that it makes a comment that the new touchscreen "took some getting used to"...but then he just goes on to the next point.

I wish he'd explained what he meant.

FizzyWater · 09-01-2010, 02:52 AM

Oh, yeah, another question - any idea if they're using the updated Adobe that also reads the B&N ePub DRM scheme?

OrcaBlue · 09-01-2010, 03:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

And if I read the article correctly, doing away with that extra layer for the touchscreen. My one question about the ZDNet blog is that it makes a comment that the new touchscreen "took some getting used to"...but then he just goes on to the next point.

I wish he'd explained what he meant.

From the same article, he mentioned that the latency of the touchscreen improve and works well.

"When I took Amazon’s latest Kindle for a spin, I was told that there were too many compromises with touch navigation. In a nutshell, touch had latency because the signal sent by your fingers had to go through two planes—glass and the E-ink. Sony, however, eliminated the need for an overlay screen. Now touch is much more intuitive and works well."

If Sony successfully eliminated the glare problem, they've made very good ereader. 7" with touchscreen and not too small yet still portable. It might be the best compromise for PDF.

HarryT · 09-01-2010, 03:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lilly

From how I read the survey questions, I think Sony believes that the touch technology was not the real issue but the quality of the screens. I'm concluding that they felt if they can eliminate the screen quality issues, then touch is the way they want to distinguish themselves.

In what way does it distinguish them? There are numerous devices on the market which have touch screens.

OrcaBlue · 09-01-2010, 03:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

In what way does it distinguish them? There are numerous devices on the market which have touch screens.

I live in US and the only ereaders with touchscreen available in store were the Sony's. I got my hand on the DR800SG but that was short lived after it had a broken screen. I can tell you that the Sony's touchscreen works much better than the DR800SG ever was for me. It could have been software issue, but touchscreen with Wacom didn't work too well there. The latency was terrible and navigation was lagging.

09-01-2010, 01:19 AM	#1
OrcaBlue Groupie Posts: 189 Karma: 2190 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Sony PRS-500	Sony will launch next generation ereader tomorrow According to this ZDNet article, the new Sony new ereaders will price at $179, $229, and $299 for the Pocket, Touch, and Daily Edition respectively. No word on the type of screen yet. Only the Daily Edition will have Wifi and 3G. No word on whether it will have Pearl screen or not. You can read the full article here. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/sony-l...g-matter/38624

09-01-2010, 02:10 AM	#5
OrcaBlue Groupie Posts: 189 Karma: 2190 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Sony PRS-500	I agree with you. At that price, it will be hard to compete with Kindle 3. That said I wouldn't mind pay a higher price since I like the Touch screen and use it quite a bit. I don't really care about Wi-Fi and 3G that much when it comes to getting books on my reader. The important question would be whether the new touch screens still have "glares" or not. Last edited by OrcaBlue; 09-01-2010 at 02:17 AM.

09-01-2010, 02:22 AM	#6
Lilly Guru Posts: 688 Karma: 2090 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Sony PRS-505, PRS-900 & PRS-950, Amazon Kindle2	Sony will still support LRF but not BBeB (DRM scheme). The PRS-300 is not discontinued, Sony will now go completely touchscreen with the new screen technology. They have also been able to remove the extra layer of screen between the touch so I can't wait to see if that completely eliminate any glare issues. Sony believes that touch technology distinguished them from the mass. I did participate in a private survey for Sony in June and there were quite a few questions on touchscreen versus wireless. Some of the questions that were asked was if wireless is important to you in an ebook device and also if you can choose between wireless or touch screen which one would you want your reader to have? Last edited by Lilly; 09-01-2010 at 02:26 AM.

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09-01-2010, 01:31 AM	#2
OrcaBlue Groupie Posts: 189 Karma: 2190 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Sony PRS-500	Another article confirmed they're porting the new Pearl screen. "All of the Readers now use the Pearl V220 E Ink technology and can read books in the EPUB and PDF formats" http://www.twice.com/article/456567-...eader_Line.php

09-01-2010, 02:08 AM	#4
bill_mchale Wizard Posts: 1,451 Karma: 1550000 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Maryland, USA Device: Nook Simple Touch, HPC Evo 4G LTE	I know Sony said they weren't going to compete on price... but what exactly are they competing on? If you are going to charge a premium over the best selling devices (Kindle and Nook in the US I presume), then it better have something going for it... and I am afraid for Sony that I just don't see a touch screen being that thing (I think wireless and ebook store integration is a bigger deal for people who want something more than a basic reader). Ironically, the pocket edition again might be the star of the ball. While still a big step up in price from where the PRS-300 is selling, it still leaves it the cheapest 5" ereader with an e-Ink screen (I assume that this all means that the PRS-300 is being discontinued). A few other questions. 1. Will they all have fixed epub formatting? 2. Will they still support LRF? Final thought, Sony might think it is too early in the game for low pricing, but I disagree, Amazon and B&N both are competing on price. I think Sony's biggest problem is that they are essentially operating as a hardware company, not a media company. -- Bill

09-01-2010, 02:31 AM	#8
superstitious Addict Posts: 206 Karma: 7270 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: K3 wifi	Thanks for this. I am curious to see how they are perceived compare to other devices with a cheaper price point.

09-01-2010, 02:49 AM	#11
FizzyWater You kids get off my lawn! Posts: 4,220 Karma: 73492664 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Columbus, Ohio Device: Oasis 2 and Libra H2O and half a dozen older models I can't let go of	And if I read the article correctly, doing away with that extra layer for the touchscreen. My one question about the ZDNet blog is that it makes a comment that the new touchscreen "took some getting used to"...but then he just goes on to the next point. I wish he'd explained what he meant.

09-01-2010, 02:52 AM	#12
FizzyWater You kids get off my lawn! Posts: 4,220 Karma: 73492664 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Columbus, Ohio Device: Oasis 2 and Libra H2O and half a dozen older models I can't let go of	Oh, yeah, another question - any idea if they're using the updated Adobe that also reads the B&N ePub DRM scheme?

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