Sony's 3G-enabled Reader Daily Edition up for pre-order, content deals coming next month
By Darren Murph 
posted November 18th 2009 9:24AM
posted November 18th 2009 9:24AM
Update: Looks like not everyone will snatch one of these before that fateful day in December, so we'd suggest either settling on a Kindle / Nook or preparing your wallet to deal with 'Tickle Me Elmo' levels of eBay insanity.
I wonder is it possible to take notes in PDF files with this reader? I´m really looking for an E-book reader which lets me write in the papers like normally in study books. Lacking this feature really holds me back from getting one. Further I really hope they will release a reader which is A4+ sized.
Nook > All of these crap ereaders
None of the Sony Readers have an option to annote books/pdfs. There are some out there -- there iRex iLiad comes to mind -- just not Sony.
"annotate", damn it.
Pah! Ignore my FUD. I read two news releases on the Sony Daily and neither of them mentioned being able to annotate, but this one did: http://bit.ly/4mn0ND
"Use the included stylus to take freehand notes and highlight sections of text you want to revisit later, or bring up the virtual keyboard to enter quick notes or search eBooks. You can also look up words in The New Oxford American Dictionary, Second Edition, or export your notes to a computer using the eBook Library software"
I have the Sony Reader Touch Edition (which is basically identical to this one with a slightly smaller screen and no wireless) and it can be used to highlight, text annotate, and freehand draw on any books including PDFs.
It actually works very well, I've been using that feature heavily at work the last week or two while looking for errors in the documentation for a software program I developed, and my Reader has made that task so much easier than trying to keep track of everything on my computer. It's very similar to the experience you would get by printing your PDF and writing on the pages with a pencil, but without wasting any ink and paper. I absolutely hate proofreading documents on a computer screen because there's no good way to jot handwritten notes, cross out lines, draw arrows, or draw simple diagrams in any desktop software program I've tried. My Reader has really made my life easier by providing those abilities.
That said, the real problem with this feature became abundantly clear when I wanted to share those notes with the person in charge of writing the documentation. I can read my notes overlaid on the PDF both on my reader and on my PC through Sony's sync software, but there's no practical way to export those notes. Sony appears to have designed the entire feature with content protected books in mind, so there is no option to print your PDF or any other way to export a file that might contain readable portions of the original book.
There is technically an export option, but it's horribly gimped to the point of being worthless. It creates an RTF file that's nothing more than a plain text list of all the text you've highlighted (each highlight cuts off after 100 characters, often losing the intention of the highlight) with your text annotations after each highlight. Any handwritten drawings or notes are exported as screencapture images of the whole page, shrunken down to an insultingly small 146 x 188 pixels (about the same size as an engadget avatar). I assume this is so that you can't read the original document underneath your notes, but the problem is that it's so small that you can't read your notes either, even if you write in huge letters.
If you plan on only ever sharing your annotations and notes with yourself, then I would recommend Sony's reader because it's surprisingly good at allowing you to write freely with a stylus and each book has a handy list that lets you skip straight to pages with annotations on them, but if there's even a slight chance that you might want to share those notes or read them anywhere outside of your Reader and Sony's Software, then I'd suggest waiting for a better solution to come around.
So long as Sony keeps drm to a minimum they are going to pretty much own the ereader market.
You think so? I mean, The Kindle line seemsto be pretty popular, and the Barnes & Noble offering looks impressive, with it's array of options...
I think when it comes down to it, price will be the determining factor for the eBook market...
Kindle has first-mover advantage (in the realm of wireless access & newspaper subscriptions) & the've got some product lock-in... those are some good barriers... but it's still early in this technology.
While I wish that were true, I don't think that's the case. That's kind of like having said, in 2001, "As long as Apple keeps the DRM to a minimum, they're pretty much going to own the digital media player market."
In reality, the DRM probably helped them develop a stranglehold on the market, and they didn't remove the DRM until they had the luxury of doing so (or the pressure to do so, if you will) long after establishing a lead.
I have a Kindle 2, but I'm currently using it primarily to read public domain books. I like that there are going to be more sexy gadgets on the market to stimulate competition, but the fact remains that much of Apple's success was due to the dead-simplicity of the iTunes store. Sony, Barnes & Noble, and other competitors will have to make sure that their stores provide both price competition and interface simplicity to match or beat Amazon. After all, for all the extra functionality that the Sony Reader and Nook provide, how many "better" mp3 players rose and fell during the iPod's reign? Quite a few. It's all about the total experience
(Personally, I prefer Amazon to both Sony and Barnes & Noble as companies, so I'm going to stay loyal to my Kindle 2...for now...)
I would disagree. I have a Sony Reader and I really like it and I appreciate the ability to load content from anywhere without any hacks or workarounds, but the software is clunky and hard to use and I don't think the average person would be able to figure out how to get books from anywhere but Sony's built-in store.
While informed gadget nerds may call foul on proprietary formats and DRM lock-in, the average person will never know the difference until it's too late. At the end of the day, they're going to prefer the device that is easiest to use and find content for, and they're not going to care if that content uses open standards or proprietary DRM.
Pretty impressive specs (bit.ly/4mn0ND), and it looks like the note-taking feature is well thought out. I'd had a Nook on my wish list, but I think this will replace it.
Anyone notice how "limited" the AT&T wireless coverage really is. I guess Verizon does have a point.
http://www.sonystyle.com/wcsstore/SonyStyleStorefrontAssetStore/pdf/warranty/SEL-asset-180368.pdf
Love how that map says, "AT&T Confidential & Proprietary," at the bottom.
If AT&T's network is so taxed why do they keep adding more devices on it?
It is possible to take annotations and notes on the reader touch edition, so this should also have that feature
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The cover for the PRS-600 is extortionately expensive, I wouldn't want to have to buy one for the Daily Edition... (gulp)