I cried all the way to the bank - Liberace
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Sony unleashes three e-readers
JAPANESE GIANT Sony has come out swinging in its bid to take on the e-reader market.
Sony has been out of the e-reader picture for some time now. While Amazon and Barnes & Noble sit on a glut of easily accessible content, Sony hasn't made any strong ties with content providers for its e-readers.
We reported last week that Amazon is due to ship its smaller, lighter and faster Kindle in late September. Now Sony is hitting back with not one, not two, but three e-readers.
Sony said the Reader Pocket Edition PRS-350, Reader Touch Edition PRS-650 and Reader Daily Edition PRS-950 all have an array of new features and enhancements like better touchscreen capabilities.
The PRS-350 has a 5-inch touchscreen and Sony claimed it doesn't blur the e-ink panel this time around. This has 2GB of memory and an SD slot, but no 3G or WiFi.
The re-vamped PRS-650 is smaller, faster and lighter than before, much like the Kindle 2.0. It has a bigger 6-inch touchscreen and plays MP3 or AAC audio. There's a dual expansion slot for SD or Sony's Memory-Stick Pro, which the company still refuses to let die.
The PRS-950 is only US-bound for now but actually sounds more interesting than the others. It's the most web-enabled and switched-on of the Sony Readers with WiFi and 3G support and a basic web browsing capability.
"The success of our previous line of Readers illustrates book lovers' demand for feature choices and full touch screens on their digital reading devices," said Phil Lubell, VP of digital reading at Sony.
"Today, we're answering their call by providing an entire line of stylish, full touch screen devices with a variety of features and price points," he continued.
Despite the marketing splash and the fact the kit looks good, Sony didn't give any indication of content deals to push its Readers to a wider world. Without publishing deals buyers will be looking at three very pretty but very blank e-reader screens.
The Pocket PRS-350 costs $179, the PRS-650 Touch is $229 and the Daily PRS-950 will be $299 when it comes out in November. The Reader Pocket and Touch Editions will be available in the UK from 17 September from Sony, Waterstone's, WHSmith and other high street retailers. µ
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@annoyed
the new Kindle ships mid September according to amazon.co.uk for both the £109 and £149 version (checked today at 8am UK) http://amzn.to/kindle3gUK . So the statement in the article is (shock horror) factually correct!
Onto the e-readers, I'm more inclined to get an e-reader that allows side loading of e-pub, although I suppose calibre could work for converting formats to Kindle, seeing as the Kindle is cheaper than Sony's efforts.
My objections to previous Sony readers (except perhaps the 505) are met with this series. New Pearl e-ink, new infra-red touch screen (no more contrast reducing extra layer), and ability to mark up copy make these the best readers so far.
What, no wifi? Well, who needs it?
Sacrifice portability, if necessary. Just make a light.
I bought a PRS-600 and have today taken it out of its case to find the screen is completely messed up. Doing some research online I've found that I am not the only one this has happened too. Sony then have the nerve to ask you for nearly £200 to repair it which is pretty much the cost of a new one!
Sorry Sony but you've lost me to the Kindle which is cheaper and has better build quality.
Waterstones UK pre-order prices £159.99 and £199.99, puts it in perspective compared to the Kindle typical Sony pricing rip off.
So Amazon's new Kindle is due to ship late September is it?
This may come as news to the Inquirer but IT'S ALREADY OUT.
Still, never let anything get in the way of an uninteresting story eh?