Newly-Announced Sony Daily Edition Reader Will Go Head-To-Head with the Kindle

[Ed Hardy]

Sony has just announced a new model in its e-book line. The Sony Daily Edition Reader's 7-inch touchscreen will be larger than the displays on its predecessors, and this device will be the first in this series to have cellular-wireless networking capabilities.

Like the other Sony Reader models, it will have an E Ink Vizplex electronic paper display that emulates the look of ink on paper. This screen will support both portrait and landscape modes.

What sets this upcoming model apart is its ability to access Sony’s eBook store from just about anywhere in the U.S. over AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband network. This will allow users to browse, purchase and download books as well as select newspapers and magazines.

There are no monthly fees or transaction charges for the basic wireless connectivity, and users still have the option to side load personal documents or content via USB from a PC or Mac. This Reader will support Adobe PDF (with reflow capability), EPUB, Microsoft Word, BBeB files, or other text file formats.

The wireless functionality makes it the first Sony e-book reader that can go head-to-head with the Amazon Kindle, which also lets users shop for books wherever they go.

Pricing and Availability
The Sony Daily Edition Reader will be on the market this December in time for the holidays.

It will sell for about $399.

Source: Sony

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[Ed Hardy]

I wonder if this will give users limited access to the Internet. The Kindle lets you look items up on Wikipedia.

p.s. Speaking of the Kindle's web access, this comic cracked me up:
http://xkcd.com/548/

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[Antoine Wright]

I like the idea behind this, and the screen size is nearly perfect. Might become a Christmas gift if early reviews and QA/QC holds up nicely.

[J.R. Nelson]

I saw a quick review of the new touch-enabled Sony (which looks to be like this but without the wireless connectivity) and loved the note-taking ability, even though it lags thanks to the fundamental nature of e-ink.

I'm sort of excited for this new Sony, although it's going to be a big disappointment if it doesn't allow any kind of web connectivity at all. Even though the Kindle's is slow and a little lame, it's nice to have the option. I also want to know how well this new one handles pictures, and the like. Might be interesting for comics.

[Tectonic]

I don't know about the screen size being perfect. i currently own the prs-700 which has a 6 inch screen. It's fine for reading books but it's still terrible for pdf files. If you stick to books from the sony store the size fo the 7 inch device should be fine. I just wouldn't count on pdf support to be anything great.

The kindle DX at $489 is probably a better bet with its much larger screen. In any case though I am personally holding off until Plastic Logic releases their device before buying a new ebook reader. The plastic flexible screen is a major selling point for me since current ebook readers are rather fragile. Price will definitely play a major part though.