Sony opens book on new Reader
Sony's new PRS-505 Reader is available in silver and dark blue and retains a $300 price tag.
(Credit: Sony)Rumors have been circulating that Sony was about to release the second edition of its electronic book reader--and now it's official. Sony's new Reader Digital Book, the PRS-505, will hit stores shortly, and while it doesn't look that different on the surface, it's got some notable improvements.
- Next-generation electronic paper display delivers faster response and a higher contrast ratio, with eight levels of gray scale instead of four.
- Slightly thinner profile.
- More intuitive button layout allows for easier navigation.
- Available in silver and dark blue.
The new Reader costs the same as the old Reader ($300), offers the same amount of built-in storage (room for about 160 "typical" eBooks), and the same amount of battery life (Sony lists it at up to 7,500 page turns). While the original Reader wasn't bad, I saw plenty of room for improvement--and it appears that Sony has addressed some of the downsides that I noted in my review (Sony says it listened to what Reader owners had to say, but we pompous reviewers think we're the real influencers).
Whatever the case, the announcement couldn't have come sooner for Sony. Rumors of an Amazon digital book reader have been percolating for a while and turning the iPhone into an e-book reader doesn't seem all that difficult, considering "illegal" PDF-reader hacks seem to work pretty well. No word on when Apple will create a real e-book reader for both the iPhone and iPod Touch, but when it does, it will only validate this emerging market.
Hopefully, Sony's learned from some of its missteps in the digital music arena and a Sony executive I spoke with says it has. The company wants the Reader to be an open platform, and it helps that you can view Word and PDF files on the device along with the copy-protected books from the online Connect eBooks Store. I'm not sure Sony has the chops to create an iTunes-like store for e-books (Connect still has a little ways to go), but we'll see--at least Sony's out there trying to break new ground instead of watching Apple do it.
Hunkered down in New York City, Executive Editor David Carnoy covers the gamut of gadgets and writes his Fully Equipped column, which carries the tag line "The electronics you lust for." He's also the author of "Knife Music," a novel. E-mail David. Follow David on Twitter.
Now Sony - release the bloody thing in Canada!
But I can live with all that. What I [b]CAN'T[/b] abide by is the anemic title selection at the Connect Book store. In the half a year since I've bought this thing, I really haven't noticed much of a difference, particularly in getting older titles from any particular author's catalog. Frankly, if I realized that so few of my favored authors were going to be carried by the store, I would've reconsidered my purchase of the device.
And the e-reader store is pretty week...only the commercial crap and at a high price....I am totally disappointed in Sony.
Most people have trouble reading a novel during the limited battery life of a running PDA or iPod. From what I understand the Sony Reader doesn't use electricity except when updating the page (per page turn). That's considerably different than the 30 times per second of an iPhone or iPod Touch.
In the future I hope they can create a multi colored digital paper with enough resolution to simulate CMYK printing on paper. That could be the best of both worlds. A room lit reflective display that only updates when needed. And even then only certain pixels on the screen when, for instance, a video clip was embedded or when a web page is scrolled through.
In reply to the guy wanting a backlit version. Do you read your books in the dark or is the Sony Reader just not as reflective as normal paper?
As for non-techies who aren't toting around a Fujitsu convertible? They're reading the old-fashioned way, by text printed on paper. A lot of people don't want to give that up, and I suspect that will continue to be the case for a long time. Even people who on a daily basis may read work-related documents in digital form, correspond by email, or do homework on Wikis, recreational reading is probably going to remain largely low tech for about two or three decades, before the electricity vs. paper green debate reaches a point at which low power mini-tablets can save enough trees for plain books to look Earth-unfriendly.
By then, mini-tablets will probably be dirt cheap and everywhere, and a dedicated book reader will make as much sense as a pocket calculator phone.
I think Sony should innovate here and offer a flexible display technology that I have read about in PopSci.
They should also use the same screen the iPhone and Touch use to simulate literal page turns.
A multi-touch display make more sense on this than it does on an iPod.
Usually I download audio books to my MP-3 player (not the iPod) and find that a satisfactory alternative for travel. Having access to both e-books and audio books would be an advantage for me.
Maybe the Sony reader does that, but I can't read your review easily enough to note a mention other than buying the e-book from someone.
- Just received my 505
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by mjstrom
October 5, 2007 10:37 AM PDT
- Just picked up my 505 last night at the Sony store in blue. Much better form factor then before?better quality in fit/finish. The 8 shades of gray is a big help. Haven't done PDFs yet, but the screen is a touch sharper then before. Page turns appear the same speed.
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(19 Comments)After reading everyone's comments, we need to keep in mind why this device is here--to use a different screen technology that does not cause eye strain. The fact there is no constant refresh rate, almost eliminates eye strain similar to paper. Remember that all those LCD screens require refresh rates which cause flicker and aids in eye strain.
Maybe a better form factor for this device would be color E-Ink in a iPhone package (due to landscape mode) but as other PERFECT devices, this does not exist.
The 505 is a nice improvement over the 500, and was finally worth the purchase.