EPUB Standard coming to a Sony Reader near you!
Sony is taking a positive step forward by adopting epub standards for its eReader P-505. What does this mean? Basically epub is a format for ebooks that can be used across many different hardware and software platforms. For a more detailed, and better description, check out this website.
What I find particularly refreshing about Sony’s move towards epub, is that it opens the doors for publishers to get their books onto the eReader. I came across this article from Publishers Weekly, and it states:
Brennan Mullin, v-p of Sony Audio, said the company was adopting the epub standard to encourage more vendors, booksellers and publishers to get involved in the e-book market and to broaden the amount of content that can be viewed on the Reader. The move to use epub is a significant change in approach for Sony, which has used its own standards and restricted consumers to buying e-books for the Reader from its own store. The use of epub will allow consumers to buy titles from a variety of outlets and will grow the number of titles compatible with the Reader to well passed the 45,000 now available through its online store.
Yes! I am a proud owner of the Reader and I do enjoy it. However, I’m often disappointed at the lack of selection from Sony’s ebook store. And the high ebook prices are also something to be desired as well.
Of course, with every positive comes a negative. Right now the updated firmware for epub compatibility is for the second generation Readers only (P-505). Guess what? I own the first generation Reader (P-500). So I guess I’ll either have to wait for Sony to update the firmware for the P-500, or shell out more cash for a second generation Reader. Damn me and my "early adopter" tendencies.
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