Sony unveils its 'Kindle killer'

So - this is the device Sony hopes can kill the Kindle.

The Japanese company's next generation 'e-reader' - which displays books in eletronic format - will go head to head with Amazon's reading device when it is released early next month.

From a cursory look - this is the only image we have - the aptly titled Reader has a more enticing, leather-bound feel than previous e-book, but it's still pretty button-heavy. (A button for every item in a list - as it would seem from this pic? It's hardly the iPod scroll-wheel.)

Other nuggets of information to have emerged on the Sony website: Reader will hold 160 books, with the option of adding more on an SD card. (The Kindle holds more than 200.) It weighs 260g (the Kindle weighs 292g). You can choose from 25,000 downloadable titles, to be sold via the Waterstones website.

Reader uses eInk technology, which arranges black and white pixels - 170 per square inch - to imitate the appearance of paper. It's not back-lit, so you can read it outside in the sun.

And, if you're one of the first people to sign up to buy one - pre-orders begin tomorrow - you'll get to choose 100 free books from a list of classics such as Dracula, Great Expectations and Pride and Prejudice.

There's just the 'small' matter of the price - 'it'll be around £200', a source at Sony said today. (Final pricing will be released tomorrow.) That's no snip, and crucially it doesn't undercut the Kindle, which costs $359 (£179).

But for UK readers desperate to turn their back on paper - and it remains to be seen just how populous that category is - it might be the only option: the Kindle is so far only available in the US.

Comments

[Jason]

This looks an awful lot like the Sony PRS-505, which has been available in the US since before the Kindle was released: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=16184

[jdmccallum]

In what way is this a Kindle "killer" it ways less yes bur costs almost as much as a cheap laptop and as for only being able to use it on One Site forget it I want one that will be able to be used on any site that I choose 4/10 for effort can do better.Better do better.

[Ian]

I would love to buy a reader but I will not touch either Amazon or Sony's until they free them from their restrictions. Why shouldn't I be able to download PDF files from the Gutenberg Project for example? Both companies seem to be too greedy, rather like Microsoft or Apple with DRM

[Gypsy Boy]

Does this allow you to load up with PDF's? This would be great, as a lot of technical reference manuals come in PDF format.

[Alan Peery]

If you have an iPhone, try www.textonphone.com for freely browsable ebooks.

If you don't have an iPhone but run the Firefox web browser, download the User Agent addon from https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/59, look up the iPhone user agent string, and then try www.textonphone.com.

[Graham Rounce]

Crucially, for me anyway, you don't comment on the appearance of the content: does it LOOK LIKE a real book? Personally I'd not enjoy reading a 'typed-in document' display style, with reduced words per page.

[paulie]

I don't think it needs to look like a real book but it certainly shouldn't look like an anonymous silver gadget.

These won't replace paperbacks but they will replace the several books people can't fit into their suitcases when they go on holiday.

[Simon]

This is the equivalent of an MP3 player for books and I want one! Unfortunately the same people who think music should be freely shared will try to infringe the copyright on electronic books. You can't blame Sony and Amazon for putting restrictions on the content to try to prevent this. People who want free content are not a good market anyway.

[Graham Rounce]

I didn't mean that the thing should look like a real book, but that the page displayed should look like a real book page!!

[Mark W]

I picked one of these up in the US in January and can honestly say that I will never go back to conventional books. I'm sure I'm not alone in having a huge pile of books in my house that I've never quite got round to reading - the Reader has meant that I've now got all of those books (and dozens more) literally in my pocket.

The screen resolution and lack of reflection from the screen mean that it is very easy to read. A lot of people have commented that they would always rather have the physical feel of a real book, but once you get used to the Reader it just ceases to be an issue.

I completely agree with a previous poster that it is like an MP3 player for books, and I have got no problem with paying the same amount for an eBook as a paper one.

Finally, to answer the person who enquired about pdfs - it does dispay pdfs but doesn't crop or resize them, so a single page of the pdf will be represented on the screen, no matter how much detail is on there. This could be frustrating if you are only buying it to read pdfs I guess.

[clivex]

Looks like the Sony reader I got in the US last year for $239 (£120) at JFK. Really like it, use it a lot, great price.

[Simon]

The comment about the interface is unfair - with an e-ink display you cannot rapidly refresh the display (plus it would be a waste of power), hence the softkeys.

A quick bit of maths suggests the screen is about 800x600 which is not quite enough to read A4 scanned PDFs in one go, which is a shame.

I think the killer app for these is when they are good enough res to display A4 docs and can interface with corporate DMS databses to give a truly paperless office.

Being able to use an e-ink display to read a document whilst working on the PC at the same time could give big productivity improvements.

The Iliad looks like it has everything (inc WiFI) but the price (because of the pen-screen) and the software let it down. If someone did a link up between the Iliad and a popular DMS you could sell a lot of units I suspect.

[Andrei]

I've got one of these. Very good. Although it can't read past 1000 pages (so if you've got a document that has 2000 pages, you'll have to find a software that can help you split it into 2 files).

Battery life varies. PDF files don't bother it much, but if you're like me, and enjoy reading graphic novels, you will need to recharge once a week.

[Ian]

These readers are great. They read pdf just fine and have an ability zoom. You can buy books from Sony's store, you can download whatever and throw it on a memory stick or load it on the reader with USB.

All this and it was released years before the Kindle.

[Bill]

mmm the "leather bound" look comes at a price.. an extra £25.. otherwise this sounds typically sony..an excellent product but as with laptops so restrictive..it seems one doesnt own a sony to use as one sees fit, one merely rents it..to use within the bounds of the Sony corporation lawyers restrictions. ill wait..if this format is to succeed there will be a plethora of treats soon in store.

[Robert/Woodsock/GA]

This may be the greatest electronic device since the telephone, but it is the software driving it that will make or break it. And historically, Sony produces 'junk' for software, and 'never' fixes anything (software wise). Check out the comments on web for Sony's DVP-CX860 (DVD/Jukebox Player), a device they have been making for at least 5-6 years. Everyone has been screaming at Sony to fix/update/improve the software (explorer) in it to no avail.

[Brandon Fox]

I've got an early version of the SONY Reader. By combining it with Project Gutenberg and freeware BookDesigner, and I couldn't be happier. Right now I'm bouncing back and forth between my "serious" book -- "Howard's End" -- and my "junkie" book -- "The Canary Murder Case - A Philo Vance Mystery". Nothing is more fun than going to Project Gutenberg and looking for new things to read; it's like going to the library.

[Amit Agarwal]

They have included support for Adobe Digital Editions so that should made PDF reading fun on PR505.

[John from US]

I have a kindle. I had held out because of DRM issues but this has since been resolved with the Amazon device. The free mobipocket Ebook creator will convert PDF, HTML, or DOC into a Kindle friendly format (PRC). You can also get a free converter to go from LIT to HTML. Yes, it is a two step process to go from LIT to PRC, but it is very simple. If anything is going to be a Kindle killer it will be on the basis of beating the Amazon price, and eliminating DRM altogether.

[tonyrocks]

I was able to tinker with one of these a few months ago at a Borders in Mt Lebo PA. I have to say, it was pretty impressive. easy to lug around...regardless of price, if you don't want to deal with the distractions of a laptop, this is great. BUT the screen redraw rate was extremely slow...reminded me of scanning bw images on my commodore 128 back in the 80s. But still, i thought it was cool...really does look like paper print though!

[Carney]

Wait, the only expansion option is a SecureDigital card? Has Sony given up on its own MemoryStick format? That would be pretty big news.

[California Ernie]

I bought a Kindle for my wife the day they hit the market, and now we fight over it. Neither of us can think of a thing we'd do to improve or change it.

The advantage of Kindle is access to all of Amazon's incredible warehouse of titles, including best sellers.

A NYT best seller is never over $9.95 and it's completely downloaded in seconds, ready to read.

Don't ask me how it works, but it communicates wirelessly with Amazon. I click on the title I want and the order zips over the cellphone network instead of the Internet; the order is filled almost instantaneously.

Take my word for it, Kindle is head and shoulders over the competition. We've used it at home, at work, on the road in motels, and 'way up in Canada above the Arctic Circle.

Do yourself a favor, get one.

[Jim from Michigan]

Kindles can send and receive E-mail using Google Mail absolutely free. They also have free internet access anywhere a Sprint cell phone will work. Rather lame internet access admittedly, but the price is certainly right and you don't have to worry about being in a wi-fi hot spot.

[P Sab]

Ask Apple to design a reader. I'm sure given their track record of reinventing, rather well, someone else's ideas/designs they will do a brilliant job, at a price of course.

[rmschne]

When do you think Kindle will be available in UK? Any insights?