Sony unveils wireless eReader

Aug 25 2009

Sony has finally upgraded its line of ebook reading devices that will include 3 distinct models. The most prominent model being the Sony Daily Edition, which will allow customers to buy ebooks via a wireless 3G connection through AT&T. Furthermore, the Daily Edition will also feature a touch screen, 7″ display and will sell for $399.

Without giving much more detail about the Daily Edition, Sony says the eReader will be available in time for the holidays this December. I should note that the $399 price will make the Sony Daily Edition more expensive than the Amazon Kindle, which currently sells for $299.

Is the Sony device worth the extra one hundred bucks? That’s up to you. Personally, I lean towards favoring Sony (partially because I own the original PRS-500, which I still use and love!). For anyone sitting on the fence between the Sony and Amazon devices, I’d suggest waiting until the Digital Edition debuts and see how it performs in comparison to the Kindle.

Sony also released two cheaper models which will be available for shipment August 31. The first is the Reader Touch Edition (PRS-600), which has a 6″ screen and features highlighting and text annotation (comes with a stylus). The Touch Edition will sell for $299 and, from what I’ve read, will not have wireless.

For you frugal-minded shoppers out there, Sony hasn’t forgotten about you either. They now offer the Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-300), which is probably more in line with the previous PRS-505. It is your basic ebook reader (no touch screen or wireless) with a 5″ display. The Pocket Edition sells for a cool $199, making it one of the cheaper dedicated ebook reading devices currently on the market.

All the devices listed above support multiple ebook formats – the most important being ePub, which Sony recently announced will be the ‘default’ format for all their ebooks. Aside from ePub, the readers will also support PDF, Microsoft Word, BeBB Book, and other text formats.

Kindle killer?

I have stopped guessing long ago whether or not each new device to hit the market will be the much-anticipated ‘Kindle killer’. So I’m not going to make any predictions about Sony’s new line of ebook readers. However, I will say that Amazon must be feeling the squeeze of no longer having the only wireless ebook reader in town anymore. Hopefully this competition will force Amazon to clean up their act regarding DRM and might think twice before remotely deleting titles off customer’s devices.

Thoughts of upgrading?

As I mentioned earlier, I already own the Sony PRS-500, which I bought several months after the device first came on the market. I love the PRS-500 and it has served me well. However, as Sony upgrades their product line and software, the support for the 500 has only dwindled, and I imagine that support will continue to decrease as time goes by.

My first upgrade choice would be to upgrade to the Sony Pocket Edition. This would allow me to take advantage of Sony’s move to ePub (the 500 does not support ePub) and allow me to take advantage of the various ebooksellers that sell ebooks in ePub format (not just limiting myself to Sony’s ebookstore). And I’ll admit that the $199 price sounds great to my budget-restricted ears.

The Digital Edition is also tempting. Shell out another hundred bucks and get the touch features. Also, I noticed that the Pocket Edition  would mean upgrading to a device with a smaller screen. I’m not about to make any hasty decisions right now. I’ll probably sit on it for a while until something pushes me over the edge.

Are any of you going to jump in and buy one of Sony’s new ebook reading device? Will you be upgrading from something else, or will this be your first dedicated ebook reader? Share a comment below with your thoughts.

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