Sony announces Reader Daily Edition, free library ebook checkouts
by Nilay Patel posted Aug 25th 2009 at 10:31AM

It flew under the radar until a quiet leak this morning, but Sony's just announced the Reader Daily Edition, as well as updated Mac-compatible eBook Library 3.0 software and a new library content service. The Reader Daily Edition has a seven-inch touchscreen with 16 levels of gray as well as a AT&T 3G modem, enabling it to pull content wirelessly -- it'll launch in December for $400, and the 3G access will be free, but limited to accessing the Sony eBook store. Yeah, sorry -- no web browser here. We're a little more geeked about the library finder service, which enables you to check out ebooks and other digital content from your local public library on any of the Readers -- for free. The New York Public Library is the flashy public launch partner, but there are "thousands more" looped in through a partnership with Overdrive.com -- check out the huge selection of top-tier content you can get through the Chicago Public Library, for example. Interestingly, the library buys a fixed number of "copies" of each title and "checks out" the licenses, so you're on a time limit -- licenses will revert after 14-29 days depending on your local branch's rules. Yeah, it's a little DRM-y and there's a lot of interesting new media and copyright implications there, but it's still a pretty amazing idea, and it's definitely a major advantage over the Kindle. We're gunning for more info now, we'll let you know as soon as we find out more -- until then, check two more images after the break.

Update: We're told that partnerships with university libraries were "only a matter of time," but sadly there's no timetable for a European launch at the moment.

EXTRA, EXTRA: SONY’S DAILY EDITION ROUNDS OUT NEW LINE OF DIGITAL READERS

Wireless 3G Reader Extends Sony’s Commitment to Bring Open Digital Reading to Mass Audience

NEW YORK, August 25, 2009 Delivering on its promise to give consumers a variety of choices, Sony today announced the third member of its new Reader family – the Reader Daily Edition™, a highly-anticipated wireless model with 3G connectivity. The Daily Edition caps its new line of Reader products, joining the Reader Pocket Edition™ and the Reader Touch Edition™ which were announced earlier this month.

The Reader Pocket Edition and the Reader Touch Edition are available immediately, and the Reader Daily Edition will be available this December in time for the holidays at SonyStyle stores and SonyStyle.com.

“We firmly believe consumers should have choice in every aspect of their digital reading experience,” said Steve Haber, president of Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division. “Today, we take another large stride to deliver on that promise. We now have the most affordable devices on the market, the greatest access to free and affordable eBooks through The eBook Store from Sony and our affiliated ecosystem, and now round out our Reader offering with a wireless device that lets consumer purchase and download content on the go.”

A Family of Three Readers

The Reader Pocket Edition sports a five-inch electronic paper display packaged in a stylish chassis and is available in a variety of colors, including navy blue, rose and silver. It is available for the ground-breaking price of $199, making it the most affordable dedicated reading device on the market.

The Reader Touch Edition features a responsive, menu-driven six-inch touch screen panel that enables quick, intuitive navigation, page turning, highlighting and note taking with the swipe of a finger or by using the included stylus pen. It comes in red, black or silver and retails for about $299.

The Reader Daily Edition gives consumers wireless access via AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband network to Sony’s eBook store from just about anywhere in the U.S. Book lovers will be able to browse, purchase and download books as well as select newspapers and magazines when and where they want. 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 from other compatible sites via USB.

The seven-inch wide, touch screen display provides for intuitive navigation and comfortable layout of content, including newspapers and magazines, whether you’re reading in portrait or landscape orientation. In portrait mode, about 30-35 lines of text are visible, making the experience very similar to that of a printed paperback book. A high contrast ratio with 16 levels of grayscale ensures that text and images are crisp and easy to read. The Daily Edition also boasts an attractive aluminum body with an integrated cover for durability. It has enough internal memory to hold more than one thousand standard eBooks and expansion slots for memory cards to hold even more. It will sell for about $399.

All three models feature Sony’s award-winning industrial design and an E Ink® Vizplex™ electronic paper display that emulates the look of ink on paper. Sony’s eBook Library software 3.0, which now includes support for many Apple® Macintosh® computers as well as PCs, makes it easy to transfer and read any Adobe® PDF (with reflow capability), EPUB, Microsoft® Word®, BBeB® files, or other text file formats on the Reader.

Access to Even More Content at the eBook Store by Sony

In addition to announcing a new family of Readers, Sony has also made several changes and improvements to its eBook Store to provide better access to an even greater variety of ebooks. Earlier this summer Sony announced the availability of more than one million free public domain books from Google, and the company made new releases and New York Times bestseller titles available for $9.99.

Today also marks the launch of Sony’s Library Finder application. Sony, working with OverDrive (http://www.overdrive.com), the leading global digital distributor of eBooks and to libraries, will now offer visitors to the eBook Store by Sony easy access to their local library’s collection of eBooks. Thousands of libraries in the OverDrive network offer eBooks optimized for the Sony Reader, and visitors can now find these libraries by typing their zip code into the Library Finder. Through the selected library’s download website, visitors can check out eBooks with a valid library card, download them to a PC and transfer to their Reader. At the end of the library’s lending period, eBooks simply expire, so there are never any late fees.

The Reader Pocket and Touch Editions, as well as available accessories such as AC adaptors, cases and covers with reading lights, are available now at SonyStyle.com and SonyStyle stores. Book lovers interested in trying out a Reader in person will also be able to find them for sale at Best Buy, BJs, Borders, Sam’s Club, Staples, Target, Toys“R”Us, Wal-Mart and other authorized retailers nationwide.

Sony Reader and OverDrive Sign Library Marketing Agreement

(Cleveland, OH) - August 12, 2009 - OverDrive (http://www.overdrive.com), the leading global digital distributor of eBooks and audiobooks to libraries, announced today a joint marketing agreement with Sony Electronics, Inc., developer of the Sony Reader Digital Book (http://www.sony.com/reader). OverDrive and Sony will cross-market OverDrive's library network and the Reader, the leading eBook device that is compatible with industry standard eBook formats offered by libraries.

Thousands of libraries in the OverDrive network (http://search.overdrive.com) offer eBooks compatible with the Sony Reader. Users simply browse or search their library website, check out their selected eBook with a valid library card, and download to a PC. Once downloaded, the eBook may then be transferred to the Sony Reader via free Adobe Digital Editions software.

"Sony Reader customers will benefit from a whole new world of eBooks when they find and use the download services at their public library," said David Burleigh, OverDrive's Director of Marketing. "We're excited to spread the word about downloads as well as our service's compatibility with one of the leading eBook reading devices on the market today."

"Because our Reader supports industry standard formats, we can continue to surprise and delight our customers with new options for premium content," said Bob Nell, director of business development for Sony's Digital Reading Business Division. "The library is a great way to experience your perennial favorites as well as new releases and best sellers for free."

In addition to reaching new and existing patrons via the Sony and OverDrive network websites, OverDrive will train librarians on how to help patrons use the Sony Reader with their download service. SonyStyle stores around the U.S. will also increase outreach efforts to reach new patrons with in-store messaging about the OverDrive download network of libraries.

OverDrive provides download services for more than 9,000 libraries, schools and retailers worldwide with support for PC, Mac®, and Sony® Reader, as well as the largest collection of iPod®-compatible audiobooks for libraries. To see if your public library is a member of the OverDrive network, visit http://search.overdrive.com. OverDrive also operates the Digital Bookmobile (http://www.digitalbookmobile.com), a high-tech 18-wheeler traveling North America on behalf of public libraries to raise awareness about free library downloads.


About OverDrive, Inc.

OverDrive is a leading global digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video. We deliver secure management, DRM protection, and download fulfillment services for hundreds of publishers and thousands of libraries, schools, and retailers serving millions of end users. OverDrive provides the largest collection of iPod®-compatible audiobooks to libraries worldwide. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, OH. http://www.overdrive.com

Sony's 'Daily Edition' Reader launch event

by Paul Miller posted Aug 25th 2009 at 10:30AM

We're huddled up in an obscure corner of the New York Public Library, waiting for Sony to drop its new Reader news on us. There are numerous publishing people here, and for our money we'd say a wireless-equipped, "daily" news sort of device is about to descend upon us, but we'll find out for sure when Sony gets on the makeshift stage and tells all.

10:30AM: The President and CEO of the New York Public Library is up front, and he says the digital content of the NYPL will be available to Sony Readers for free.

10:34AM: Steve Haber, president of Sony's Digital Reading Business Division is up now, and he likens the transition from books to digital books to vinyl to CD and film to digital photo.

10:38AM: Launching 3.0 eBook Library software. Mac and PC compatible, notes made on the touch edition can be printed.

10:40AM: Library Finder. You can register for a library card, and then check out ebooks from the "library" over the internet. Content expires in the number of days specified by the library. No late fees!

10:43AM: Sony Reader Daily Edition! 3G, 7-inch touchscreen, $399. Picture is up top.

10:53AM: Check out some "hands-on" photos below. He didn't let us touch it, and apparently this isn't even a working prototype. Still, from our angle, it's looking pretty slick!

Brak jakiegokolwiek oficjalnego konwertera do lrf (który de facto jest ich autorskim formatem)

o obsłudze innych znaków niż podstawowe ASCII nie wspomnę.

Mam nadzieję, że fachowcy od marketingu skojarzą kilka oczywistych faktów i zorganizują lepszy support, bo przez takie właśnie niedociągnięcia tracą masę klientów.

może zostać hitem prezentów pod choinkę...

Hehe, dobre! Hitem to może zostać ps3 slim

A to że tylko ASCII jest wspierane to niby żaden problem na amerykańskim rynku, tylko że nawet na tym amerykańskim rynku jest też sporo ludzi posługujących się innymi językami. Przypomnij sobie chociażby błagalne prośby Polaków z Wielkiej Brytanii o dostęp do naszej biblioteki (jeszcze nim znieśliście wymóg przekroczenia limitu postów). Nie rozumiem po co sony samo ogranicza sobie grono klientów.

Rynek czytników ebooków: Sony chce zdetronizować Amazon
Michał Duda

W tym miesiącu firma Sony wprowadziła na rynek dwa nowe produkty z serii Sony Reader: Pocket Edition i Touch Edition. W drodze jest jeszcze jedna wersja czytnika, Daily Edition mająca ujrzeć światło dzienne w grudniu.

To co na starcie daje Sony przewagę nad Kindle DX firmy Amazon, potentata na rynku czytników ebooków, to cena. Pięciocalowy model kieszonkowy - Reader Pocket Edition, dostępny jest w cenie 199 USD, natomiast wersja Touch Edition, wykorzystująca w pełni możliwości panelu dotykowego jest o 100 USD droższa.

W grudniu br. na rynku pojawi się jeszcze jeden czytnik Sony Reader Daily Edition. Będzie to najbardziej rozbudowana wersja gadżetu Sony do czytania publikacji elektronicznych. Zostanie wyposażona w siedmiocalowy wyświetlacz "Vizplex", słownik języka angielskiego oraz będzie pierwszym z tej serii urządzeniem Sony obsługującym połączenia Wi-Fi oraz 3G.

Warto przy tym dodać, że Sony zdecydowało się wprowadzić obsługę otwartego formatu ePUB Pozwoli to odczytywać ebooki ze sklepu Sony także na innych urządzeniach wspierających ten format. Wszystko to będzie możliwe dzięki nowej wersji oprogramowania eBook Library 3.0 (obsługującej także PDF), która umożliwia również współpracę z komputerami Mac.

Aby rywalizować z Kindle na polu dostępności tytułów, Sony umieściło w swoim eBook Store ponad milion pozycji dostępnych przez Google Books oraz umieściło w ofercie najnowsze książki oraz bestsellery z New York Times, których cena wynosi 9,99 USD za sztukę.

Z Sony Reader do biblioteki

Sony uruchomiło także aplikację Library Finder. Umożliwia ona przeszukiwanie zasobów lokalnych bibliotek należących do sieci OverDrive. W ten sposób nie wychodząc z domu możliwe będzie wypożyczenie elektronicznych książki, a właściwie pobranie jej na komputer i transfer do Readera. Po przekroczeniu czasu wypożyczenia odczyt książki stanie się niemożliwy.

MR at Sony Daily Edition press conference
DMcCunney

On Tuesday, August 25th, Sony held a press conference at the main branch of the New York Public Library. The event was held in the Trustees Room, a room on the second floor with a marble fireplace, wood paneling, and and tapestries symbolizing the major continents hanging down along the side and back walls. Above the fireplace was a marble plaque engraved with a quote from Thomas Jefferson: ""I look to the diffusion of light and education as the resource most to be relied on for ameliorating the conditions, promoting the virtue and advancing the happiness of man."

A stage was set up up front, with a podium, and flanked by big flat screen displays showing the Sony models. Kiosks were scattered around the room with display models of the Personal and Touch editions of the reader. There was no seating for the original presentation, with a scattering of cocktail rounds for writing and laptops, and an assortment of video cameras on tripods made circulating problematic. A catered spread with coffee, tea, water, soda, OJ, fruit and pastries was available.

Dr. Paul LeClerc, President and CEO of the NYPL gave a keynote address. Dr. LeClerc emphasized the free availability of information, as exemplified by the New York Public Library. He said that NYPL website has 25 million unique visitors, making it second only to the Library of Congress in access to library facilities over the web.

Dr. LeClerc announced a partnership with Sony, and with Google Books. The NYPL is working with Google, scanning public domain texts. They will also be be offering current titles in ePub format via Sony for borrowing via download to a Sony Reader.

The NYPL is partnered with supplier Overdrive for commercial ebook titles, offering over 40,000 now. They anticipate much of the public domain works being digitized in cooperation with Google to also become available for download.

Dr. LeClerc then introduced Steve Haber, President of the division that makes the Sony Reader. Steve's presentation was more informal and anecdotal, and to this observer, curiously unfocused. Steve talked about motivations: "Why digital reading?" "Why ebooks?" He'd been with Sony in various capacities for 20 years, and involved in consumer electronics for longer. He saw parallels with the changes in music, from the old vinyl LP format, to CDs, and finally to MP3 files downloadable from the internet, and with films, which have progressed from things seen in a theater to videotapes, to DVDs, and finally to files available on demand oer the Internet. Similar parallels could be drawn with the progress of books from printed works on paper to electronic files.

Unlike the last press function of Sony's that I've attended, their branding has shifted. They no longer speak of PRS-500, PRS-505, or PRS-700. Instead, they now have three major brands, distinguished by price points. At the low end is the Pocket Edition, with a 5" eInk display, available in several colors, with a $199 price point. Next up is the Touch Edition, with a larger touch screen at a $299 price point. Last is the subject of today's press conference, a new model called the Daily Edition, with a 7" screen touch screen and $399 price. The Daily Edition isn't available yet, but will be out by the holiday season. Sony Readers will be available in 4,800 retail outlets, where people can see and experience the Reader before purchase. Sony retail partners include Best Buy, BJ's, Staples, Target, Toys-R-Us and Wal-Mart.

I had thought a bit about what could be significant enough to bring Sony back across the country for an announcement in NYC, and I had guessed right - the Daily Edition will have 3G wireless access. The Daily Edition will be able to connect to AT&T's network, and through it to the Sony Store. Included in the launch is an improved version of the Sony ebook library software, which will be available for Windows and Mac OS/X. Among other things, it will allow the user to print out annotations they have made to books stored in the reader.

In addition, Sony is introducing Library Finder. through the Sony Store, Library Finder will enable readers to find books in libraries, but entering their zip code. Assuming they have a library card for the library in tht area, they will be able to download borrowed books to their PC and send them to their Reader. Borrow time restrictions are implemented in software, with the book simply expiring at the end of the loan period, so no late fees would accrue. (It was not clear what would happen to annotations made to books borrowed from the library, and the Sony reps I spoke to didn't know.)

One of the things Steve stated as a concern was openness. To that end, the Sony Store is transitioning to ePub as an industry standard format, with Adobe's ACS4 DRM solution.

Steve also saw another parallel with music. Various pieces of music become part of the soundtracks ios out lives. The become associated with people, places, and things that are important to us, and hearing the songs brings the things that are associated with to mind. He feels that books can serve similar functions, and the passages in books can have the same sort of association as songs do. To attempt to tape that experience, Sony was created a new site called "Words Move Me", where posters can discuss books that were significant to them, and passages that moved them.

I found the presentation interesting for what it did and didn't say.

I would have expected more front and center prominence for the new 3G feature in the Daily Edition. This was something asked about that the last Sony event I covered, and something Steve committed to, but "not until it was right".

There have also been snarky comments about the openness of ePub and Adobe's DRM, given the relative lack of ePub formatted titles. I sympathize, but on the other hand, what can Sony do? The de facto standard ebook format now is probably MobiPocket. But MobiPocket is owned by Amazon. How likely would Amazon be to allow Mobi to license the format to a direct Kindle competitor? And DRM is one of those things that isn't going away any time soon. By definition, it's not "open".

Sony claims the ePub format is an industry standard. Well, perhaps, but more companies in the industry have to actually implement it. Part of the problem there is technological. In an ironic situation, the principal outfit pushing ePub is Adobe, and Adobe's InDesign DTP progranm is now used by most publishers to do markup, yet InDesign produces poor quality ePub files. Good quality ePub really requires starting with well formed XML, but tools to do XML markup are a work in progress. From the point of view of the publisher's employee doing the markup, the output format should be irrelevant. The simply want a tool they can use to do the markup, confident that other hands can take the output and use it to create printed books or ebooks.

And as expected, Steve dodged comments about unit sales, and avoided direct comparisons with the Kindle, so we have no clear feel for how well the reader is selling.

The significant point for me about the event is that it occurred. Despite the worldwide economic downturn, and Sony's publicized financial woes in other areas, Sony senior management seems to believe there is a market for the reader, and a fairly large one, because they haven't pulled the plug on the effort.

Gdyby udostepnili legalny konwerter, zapewnie zaraz by ich podano do sadu za rozpowszechnianie oprogramowania sluzacego do nielegalnej pracy.

Switched On: Sony plays both ends against the Kindle
by Ross Rubin posted Sep 1st 2009 at 6:30PM



Last week, Sony introduced Reader Daily Edition, the latest and most advanced Reader in its 2009 lineup, and attempted to recapture the excitement around the category that it had at the launch of the original Reader but then gave up to Amazon. By adding 3G connectivity to the Daily Edition, Sony's answered the biggest perceived feature gap between its products and Amazon's e-reader.

However, far from playing me-too, the Daily Edition tells quite a different distribution story than the Kindle, from purchasing devices to the content. The $400 Daily Edition (a term that warmly evokes printed books and newspapers without being corny) will join the $300 Touch Edition and the $200 Pocket Edition. Of these, the Pocket Edition has the most near-term potential for success due to its greater portability and low price, particularly in these grim economic times.

Speaking of which, Sony seems to have picked up more positive buzz about its library integration for free book lending than it has for adding wireless to the line. For all the struggles of subscription services, consumers don't have any problems with renting content as long as it's free.

If the Pocket Edition fills in the sub-$200 gap, the $400 Daily Edition (the name of which auspiciously hints that we may see a stronger tie-in with newspapers), occupies a gap between the $300 Kindle 2 and the $490 Kindle DX. Its widescreen display may provide a superior experience for reading, say, newspaper columns. And unlike the Kindle 2, the Daily Edition has both wireless access and a touch screen, although both the Touch and Daily editions dispense with the sidelighting that was in the PRS-700.

One open issue is how Sony will manage to answer Amazon's full subsidization of wireless access, which is justified by Amazon being the exclusive bookseller for the Kindle; although Sony has its own store, Readers also support other booksellers who offer electronic publications in the EPUB format. For now, the compromise is to limit wireless access exclusively to Sony's marketplace while requiring that other books be sideloaded. Openness to competitors is one thing; subsidizing them is another.

Sony, then, will field strong value at both the high and low end of the Reader line, but it is least competitive with Amazon's flagship, the Kindle 2. At $300, the same price as the Kindle 2, Sony's Touch Edition lacks wireless access. Therefore, more consumers willing to pay $300 (but no more than that) will likely opt for the Kindle 2. Those looking to trade up should find the Daily Edition a nice hardware upgrade while those looking to trade down won't have many options for dedicated e-readers that have ready-made bookstores.

Clearly, Amazon will not stand still with hardware development. Assuming Sony can get 3G (or at least Wi-Fi) onto its midrange models next year, it should have a consistently strong hardware lineup and better overall content story than Amazon does today. That will be a lineup that's booked solid.