prs

Not long after the iPad was announced back in January, I wrote a column titled, "Which e-readers will the iPad Crush?" For the article, I came up with a list of several e-reader hopefuls that I thought would be most profoundly affected by the arrival of the iPad. Not surprisingly, all of them were more-expensive e-readers with price tags approaching--or even exceeding--the cost of the entry-level 16GB Wi-Fi-only iPad ($499).

You don't exactly have to be genius to speculate that products like the Plastic Logic Que proReader, which starts at $649, will be jeopardized by the iPad'… Read more

One thing has always been clear about Sony's line of e-readers: they're arguably the sleekest and most elegant dedicated electronic-reading devices out there today (in a pre-Apple Tablet world, at least).

The same holds true for the Reader Daily Edition PRS-900, Sony's first e-reader to include built-in 3G wireless service for accessing e-books wirelessly from Sony's Reader Store. Like the Touch Edition PRS-600, this model also has a touch-screen interface, but its screen is elongated, measuring 7.1 inches diagonally instead of the more standard 6 inches. That makes it almost exactly the same length as … Read more

When it comes to e-book readers, the jury is still out on what screen size is ideal. Until recently, consumers were pretty much limited to choosing between 6-inch models from Sony, Amazon, and a few lesser-known manufacturers. But now new e-readers are cropping up in both larger and smaller sizes, and Sony's 5-inch Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-300) is making a bid to capture a chunk of the nascent e-reader market.

As the entry-level model in Sony's 2009 e-book lineup, the comparatively diminutive PRS-300 has neither the touch screen that's found on the $300 PRS-600 Reader Touch Edition … Read more

After enduring a couple of rumors and leaks that took the lid off its latest e-readers a little earlier than it would have liked, Sony's officially announced the two new models: the Reader Pocket Edition ($199) and Reader Touch Edition ($299), both of which will hit stores at the end of the month. The other big news is Sony is going to match Amazon's e-book pricing, making new releases and best seller titles $9.99 instead of $11.99.

As for specs, here's what you're looking at:

Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-300):

A couple of days ago I posted an item on how I'd heard whispers of a new Sony digital reader potentially hitting the market in August. Well, now some images and details of two new Sony Readers, the PRS-300 and PRS-600, have made their way into the blogosphere, thanks to a poster in the Sony Insider boards who simply wrote: "I just found service manuals for 2 unannounced Sony Reader model-the PRS-300 & PRS-600."

The links to the "freshly minted" PDF files have been taken down but Sony Insider preserved the information before it disappeared. (… Read more

In recent weeks there's been lots of news about new e-readers hitting the market. The Cool-er is out. Samsung's just released its first e-book reader in Korea. Plastic Logic is talking up its partnerships with Barnes & Noble and AT&T. And the Kindle 2 had a price drop to $299.

But what's up with Sony? True, its $400 PRS-700 hasn't been out that long, but surely the company has to put out a new e-reader sometime soon or risk losing that precious piece of market and mind share it currently enjoys in the e-reader … Read more

YouTube has pulled the plug on music videos in Germany as Western Europe starts to look like a hostile environment for Web music services.

A YouTube spokesman confirmed that YouTube is no longer playing music videos belonging to the largest music labels after talks with Germany's biggest royalty collections group, GEMA, broke down.

The conflict is almost identical to YouTube's spat with a royalty group in the United Kingdom, but with one important twist. According to YouTube, GEMA is asking for royalty rates that are 50 times higher than those asked for by PRS, the British organization, and … Read more

Ever since rumors--and some alleged photos--of Amazon's next-generation Kindle digital reader hit the Web late last year, I keep getting e-mails from readers asking me for buying advice. Here's a typical note:

Hi, David:

Around Christmas, I ordered the Amazon Kindle, but as I'm sure you know, it's back-ordered for a couple of months. Then I saw your article on the Kindle 2 coming out soon and I'm not sure what to do. Should I cancel my order? If the new Kindle 2 comes out right after I get mine, will I be able … Read more

Ever since rumors--and some alleged photos--of Amazon's next-generation Kindle digital reader hit the Web late last year, I keep getting e-mails from readers asking me for buying advice. Here's a typical note:

Hi, David:

Around Christmas, I ordered the Amazon Kindle, but as I'm sure you know, it's back-ordered for a couple of months. Then I saw your article on the Kindle 2 coming out soon and I'm not sure what to do. Should I cancel my order? If the new Kindle 2 comes out right after I get mine, will I be able … Read more