Sony's 'Daily Edition' Reader launch event
By Paul Miller 
posted August 25th 2009 10:30AM
posted August 25th 2009 10:30AM
10:30AM: The President and CEO of the New York Public Library is up front, and he says the digital content of the NYPL will be available to Sony Readers for free.
10:38AM: Launching 3.0 eBook Library software. Mac and PC compatible, notes made on the touch edition can be printed.
10:40AM: Library Finder. You can register for a library card, and then check out ebooks from the "library" over the internet. Content expires in the number of days specified by the library. No late fees!
10:43AM: Sony Reader Daily Edition! 3G, 7-inch touchscreen, $399. Picture is up top.
10:53AM: Check out some "hands-on" photos below. He didn't let us touch it, and apparently this isn't even a working prototype. Still, from our angle, it's looking pretty slick!
FIRST OH MY GOD YES!!!
First to be -1'ed mate - well done.
KFC test new sandwich with 'bun' of fried chicken.
Thought I'd post something more relevant than Greg N.
GHOSTBUSTERS!!!!
$399?! thats about £250.. they can just about f*ck off
e-book readers: Expensively doing what we've all been able to do on WinMo PPC since 2003.
Ignorance is expensive.
ravicai, you could argue a bike can do what a car does as well. Not really a good argument.
Well done duke, an apt comparison, true in that they both transport, and yet they don't do the same job, good choice.
A bike to a car? That's a terrible comparison. It's more like comparing a Toyota to a Lexus. The fact being they both get you from point A to B. But some people feel the need to spend a lot more money getting to point B.
Yes Greg, your the first person everyone will downrate. Congrats!
Oh the irony...
I bet he says the same thing as he jumps in front of little old ladies at the supermarket.
@James Sonne
Does your Iphone allows you to read thousands of pages before needing a recharge? Does it allow you to read comfortably under the sun? Does it have a 7" screen?
Stop trolling if you have not tried one yet.
Idiot.
My comment was meant for the discussion below. Comment system fail, but it is still valid.
This will only be interesting to me when libraries are able to issue eBooks to their members. Or when these slates cost only $49.99 at Walmart.
I just don't see the point, to be honest. Do you guys' eyes get tired when you read your news in an internet browser? Is that seriously the justification for the awesomeness of these e-ink devices? That reading black and white text on an e-ink display is this amazing, immersive experience, when compared with reading black and white text on an LCD?
e-ink, in its current state, is an incredibly limited, single-purpose platform, not to mention that it costs a boatload. DO NOT WANT
And with that, we have the obligatory "I don't see the point" post that appears in every single ebook Engadget post.
Hint: Nobody cares that you don't care.
"Do you guys' eyes get tired when you read your news in an internet browser? Is that seriously the justification for the awesomeness of these e-ink devices?"
Reading news in an internet browser and reading a book on a screen are two very different things. Go read a monospaced black on white document over at GameFAQs for a couple of hours and let me know how your eyes feel.
It does make a big difference.
It's way better then LCD - the resolution is almost three times as much in terms of DPI , comparing to an average LCD screen. Been using the thing for more then 2 years now. Stop by nearest store to check it out - i guarantee you'd be surprised how sharp it looks...
Sure the e-ink display is nice, but honestly ... $300+ for an ebook reader? Get a touchscreen smart phone for a fraction of the price and load up books on it, download them on the fly. Who is going to spend $300 (price of the Sony Touch Edition Reader, not even this new Daily Edition with 3G cellular!) when you can get, say, an iPhone for $100 and have a phone, internet, email, ebook, office with you in one device everywhere you go? Not say the iPhone is be-all end-all, just using it as an example of such an all-in-one device that's cheaper than the ebook reader. Get a Palm Pre for a similar price and save, what does the Sprint commercial say, $450 a year over the iPhone data plan? Do that and you have a cellphone ebook reader for even less if the monthly rate is an issue. Justification, anyone? The e-ink screen is not $300 nice, nor 'lugging around another device' nice. (obligatory IMHO disclaimer)
Can someone please explain the fundamental difference between LCD and e-ink (your eyes will not hurt like hell after reading e-ink display continuously for hours) to these people so that they will stop posting these uninformed "quips" about e-book readers?
Eyestrain will vary by monitor, but the best monitor out there can't compete with a regular book. That said, the price point is indeed still too high for most people to care at this price point -- for the casual reader, a physical book will work just as well (assuming the convenience factor is a nonissue because trips to the library/store are sparse), and for news and such where being able to tap a wide range of sources instantly is advantageous, you must be poring over said newsclips and such for a long time for the eye relief and such to really make a difference. I'm sure your actions will adapt to the advantages this thing offers, but that also means that there's no immediate need to switch just yet.
That said, I'd be jumping on these things in a heartbeat if it actually supported / had a marketplace with a wide range of Japanese books available. It sucks having to pay the insane shipping costs for shipping from Amazon.jp every time there's stuff I want to get, and even at this price point (for me anyway) the device will pay for itself in a year. That's not likely to happen any time soon though, as there seems to be no word on Kindle landing there, and Sony pulled its Japanese storefront over a year ago.
@erg
E-paper is not refreshing 60 times a second, and it doesn't rely on backlighting to show the information, it changes an electronic ink to display the letters on every page turn and it uses the light of the place you are to make it visible, like normal ink on normal paper does, so there's not annoying brightness issues and no refresh issues causing eye fatigue and it has much more pixels per inch too than your common LCD so it also looks fairly sharp compared to portable devices with LCD.
And since e-paper doesn't refresh until you turn the page and it doesn't need a superbright tube or tons of LED behind it it also has hundreds times less power requirements, meaning a single recharge of the battery can last more than a month.
Now for the bad news: it's black and white and costs way too much for most people to consider.
i like sony way of introducing products................
I think we're very close to the day when newspaper publishers will offer these at a highly subsidized price provided that you take on a lengthy subscription to their online services. It's no different than the cellphone model and it may be the only hope for the survival of a lot of newspapers.
i agree.
agreed.
my opinion would be that newspapers should basically offer two editions.
1. their free online edition w/o any op-eds, ad supported, community forums.
2. their paid, ebook edition would be no ads, full op-ed and editorials, layouts customized to ebook screen sizes (ie comic layouts?? perhaps!) with direct links to online resources (if ebook reader is able to bring up websites)
well, atleast thats what i would do..
Sigh. Only $50 more than the 700 I bought three months ago. Ah, well.
Damn, this is exactly what I was doing with Mobipocket on my WinMo phone back before I caved and bought a Kindle (and an iPhone). NYPL had an OK selection of ebooks. It wasn't a good way to read the latest bestsellers, but I found lots of new authors browsing their ebooks. And it was "free."
I really wish Kindle would support this as well. Somehow I doubt that'll happen.
"The President and CEO of the New York Public Library is up front, and he says the digital content of the NYPL will be available to Sony Readers for free"
excellent
399.00 is still too much.
These things have got to be in the 150.00 to 210.00 range for untested tech like this to get a foothold. Monochrome and slow screen refresh rates wont cut it for 400.00!
And on top of that, it's a no-brainer that newer editions will have better specs all around, so who wants to be on the hook for a device that is obsolete as of now?
I read hundreds of ebooks a year, mostly using mobipocket reader. I am the target audience for ebook hardware and books.
What do I want?
1. Pocketable so I can take it everywhere to read whenever I am bored on the train or bus while commuting.
2. Backlit so I can read it at night before going to sleep. None of this gimmicky front clip-on light nonsense.
3. Whispernet type of connection so I can browse/buy directly from the publishers.
4. Audible.com audio book compatible (makes the 40 minute commute by car go faster).
So far, nobody meets those needs. Too large, no backlight, etc. So I use a smartphone or PDA or UMPC, which meets all of those needs (and allows me PIM, editing office documents, internet browsing as well). The only things those don't offer is eink screen, but I don't find small high resolution screens like a 4.8" umpc to give me any problems.
OFF TOPIC: BTW, mobipocket books is owned by Amazon now, so buying books from them to read on your cell phone/pda does not directly compete with kindle books. Ohh, and Amazon also owns Audible.com now. Two stand-out companies. There is a reason Amazon does not make a profit; they are spending all their money buying companies to make their empire larger. Not that this makes me stop buying everything from them. The borg is starting to assimilate.
what's the point of not bringing it to Europe? (EU has 500Mio inhabitants)
As well as a higher rate of literacy (probably).
Ignoramous. You might have to eat those words when you see actual numbers about literacy compared in the US and Europe. It's about the same at 99% (some European counries have higher scores).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_literacy_rate
I think he was being ironic about the apparent lack of literacy in the US when you see many posts made by its citizens, which is obviously not to be taken as some scientific determination.
It's actually pretty hard to get the real numbers I think, and to agree as to what constitutes literacy, because simply recognizing the letters isn't always how most people would describe it, you should be able to understand roughly what it says, and you should be able to form somewhat coherent sentences too
But yeah the EU has an awful lot of customers for reading material, but they'd sooner buy a $230 cybook than a $400 sony that can access the NYC library if they happen to visit the US sometime, and are allowed in, and get a green card so they can register and so can apply for a library card in the US. Not thatsony could not set that up in the EU too, but they love the US and can only 'bear' europe, I do not know why, it's a japanese thing.
$399? Yea, it sounds high but you have to break it down.
For $50 more than the Kindle, you get what sounds like the same capabilities and.... FREE BOOKS!
Most people can read a book in 29 days so you're essentially just buying a digital interface to the public library. If you read 25-30 books, it pays for itself.
+1 Yes! You totally get it! Being able to "check out" library books will help the device pay for itself very, very quickly.
Those weren't very flattering photos you took of that guy. Maybe he himself should learn to not hover a product right underneath his double-chin but still.
I think this is the best one Sony has come up with. It looks like a kindle killer for sure. The screen seem like the bright one, not the one lacking contrast. It's size is acceptable and of course it got wireless that everyone's been clamouring for. But the best part is the ability to download lots of books for free. Price is a little hight still, but I will have to really look at this thing now.
Damn, I just walked in Bryant Park past the New York Public Library building this morning at around 10am, and I didn't know this was happening there!
Check out the stonework in the picture of the library dedication plaque. What do naked ladies and snakes have to do with book lending? If you look closely, is there an apple in that picture too?
Is this some sort of 1910's version of the "bait and switch"? Trying to tempt the denizens of the city who wouldn't read a book if their life depended on it to come get a library card? Trying to get teenagers interested in reading?
Since when does "all the people" mean only people who own Sony readers?? How about making it free to anyone?
That Jefferson guy needs to take a writing class.
Next year the library will be 100 years old.
I'm using Sony 505 for half a year now, I have PC, and netbook, and 3.5" PDA, and 3.2" touchscreen phone. The best thing to read books, articles on is Sony 505, period. All these shiny LCDs put straing on your eyes, and smaller devices have too small screens. There are 2 problems with Sony 505: a) display is too small for for textbooks; b) contrast is a bit too low. I will repeat myself again: if one compares an e-ink ebook reader to any LCD-device in terms of readability, there is one undisputed winner: ebook reader.
wow! i already see 'real' applications here. think i did not want to try this as my Kindle1 was always getting 1xRTT (never EV-DO) ....
why not bring tethering ... that way you don't have to subscribe for 3G on the phone?