Sony’s Latest e-Reader: A First with Touch-Screen Navigation

Sony introduced the first e-reader - the short-lived PRS 500 - in 2006, before Amazon’s 2007 Kindle made its debut, but the Kindle quickly left the PRS 500 in its dust. In August 2009, after going back to the drawing board, Sony announced three new e-readers: the very basic Reader Pocket Edition, the more sophisticated Reader Touch Edition, and its most recent creation, the Reader Daily Edition, which was unveiled in December 2009.

The Daily Edition is Sony’s first wireless e-reader, connecting users via AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband network to Sony’s ebookstore where they can readily access books, periodicals, and, so far, the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, New York Post,Boston Globe, International Herald Tribune, andNew York Times. Wireless service is provided with no direct charge to the customer. Sony used the launch event at the New York Public Library to highlight some notable new features of the new e-book platform.

Reviewers give the Daily Edition high marks because of its 7-inch screen that displays up to 35 lines of text in portrait mode, similar to a paperback book. The larger screen is possible because of the elimination of most physical controls, offering instead navigation with a touch screen, a first in the e-reader category. The user can make notes in the margins, turn pages, and highlight text using either his fingertips or the included stylus pen. The device offers an E Ink Vizplex electronic paper screen with 16 shades of gray.

Another new feature is Sony’s Library Finder application, enabling users to access their local library’s e-book collection simply by entering their ZIP code. They can “check out” e-books with their library card, download them to their PC, then transfer them to their Reader. When the borrowing period ends, the e-book expires. No late fees! According to the article "An Introduction to Popular E-book Readers", usually in order to buy an e-book, you go to the online vendor of the e-book, pay and register your reader for Digital Rights Management protection, and download the e-book to the registered reader (Digital Book Readers). Since only the registered e-book reader can read this e-book, the author and the publisher are protected from piracy.

Another plus for the Daily Edition is expandable storage. Like the Kindle, the device comes with 2 GB, but it includes slots for two additional memory cards. The Daily Edition weighs just under 13 ounces and is about a half-inch thick. It retails for $399.

E-reader customers should have broad choices, said Steve Haber, president of Sony's Digital Reading Business Division. The devices will be available in about 8,000 retail stores, and connect to several e-book stores and libraries, he said. "It's all about access to content ... it's about expression, holding, touching and using the Sony Reader," Haber added. "We want it to be a ubiquitous experience, not locked in - open, open, open."

According to Forrester Research, Sony will close 2009 with about a 35 percent share of the U.S. e-reader market vs. Amazon's nearly 60 percent. Forrester expects U.S. sales of e-readers to be about 3 million in 2009 and continue to grow next year.