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IN CRAVE

Sony gets its Reader right

Related entries: Handhelds

This is the Sony Reader, one of the most exciting gadgets we've seen at this year's CES. These exclusive photos of the new electronic book reader were taken this afternoon in Las Vegas -- we tip this as the most popular gadget of 2006.

Sony has never recovered from the shock of finding its Walkman brand dethroned by the iPod. Though the company may never claw back the portable music player scene from Apple, it looks as if it may become world leader again -- in the land of the electronic book.

Crave had to be dragged away from the Sony stand after ten minutes with the Reader. It uses a special display technology called eInk which looks almost exactly like traditional printed paper. There is very little difference between this and a regular novel -- aside from the fact that the Reader can store hundreds of novels in the space of a thin paperback. The new technology doesn't continually use battery power to display its images; power is only consumed when you're turning a page. It's good for 7,500 page turns, no matter how long that takes.

Dan Brown, author of the indefatigable Da Vinci Code, was wheeled out by Sony to demonstrate his bestselling book in electronic form. He was accompanied by Tom Hanks, star of the new film, who defied the Sony throng by mocking the autocue used by Sony's CEO and repeatedly referring to podcasts (the radio-like service synonymous with Apple's iPod).

"I'd act in anything," he said bleakly at one point. "I'd even do podcasts."

Perhaps the answer for Sony all along was to look to the past rather than grappling for the future. No one who loves literature could take a look at the Reader and not lust after it. Sony told Crave that the Reader will retail at $349 (£200) in the US. The UK price is yet to be revealed.

Visit our CES 2006 Special Report for more coverage, including our exclusive video of the Reader in action. -CS & GC

Update: A preview of the Sony Reader is now live in our Reviews channel.

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Comments (29)

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Comments

AnonymousMon 9 January, 2006 6:09pm

Hi
Just wanted to know when the ereader will be available in the uk and where i could get it from?

AnonymousThu 25 January, 2007 12:03am

I have wanted one of these ever since it was first announced. Come on Sony lets have them in the UK.

AnonymousSun 15 January, 2006 11:48am

same question as above - when will this be available in canada? hearing great things about sony's ereader

AnonymousMon 16 January, 2006 4:25am

Can you print from the Reader?

AnonymousTue 4 April, 2006 7:31pm

What would be the point of printing from it? You might as well buy the printed book; it would be a lot cheaper. The Sony product looks very nice but it's way too exepensive. I want a gadget on which to read books (something that will also allow me to search through a book, make comments, etc). I don't want it to take the place of my alarm clock, cook my breakfast, or do all the silly things that mobile phones can now do.

AnonymousSun 4 November, 2007 5:31pm

What I would like to see in an e-book reader is the facility to highlight and make comments. Is there such a thing on the market?

AnonymousWed 22 February, 2006 7:48am

It's a Sony product so I'm expecting it to run on expensive Memory Sticks and be crippled by DRM. Hope it does well,then loads of small companies will copy the idea for less money and make it open source. Does eInk do colour?

AnonymousWed 19 April, 2006 5:13pm

I think you might be interested in the reply I have received from Sony re the launch of the ereader in the Uk..... doesnt look promising!
"The launch of Sony Portable Reader is a very exciting development, however
it is currently a US product, where they have a very different market place
to the United Kingdom. Whilst it is a good indicator of the way technology
is progressing, we cannot always guarantee that we will launch the same
products in this country as they do in the US.

It is therefore with regret that I am not able to provide any information on
this product at this time, but should we launch this product in the future
details will be posted on our website, www.sony.co.uk.

I am sorry for any disappointment this may cause."

AnonymousTue 9 May, 2006 9:51am

Nope.

AnonymousThu 20 July, 2006 9:23am

I shall be in the USA this autumn, I assume there is no practical reason why I cannot buy one thereand use it everywhere else?
No douby Sony eBooks will be available from the USA on the net, or are these to be PDF or Microsoft reader files??

AnonymousWed 14 June, 2006 5:29pm

As to UK availability ... there is at least one similar device (the iRex iLiad) being cobbled up in Europe. But ... it will be much more expensive.

the booksellerThu 29 June, 2006 2:16pm

Given that we live in a golden age of gadget design, of which Apple are of course Kings, this thing looks damned ugly. If you want to appeal to the key young professional market this device is going to have to look a lot sleaker, a good deal prettier and come in a range of colours. Great functionality with killer eInk technology but hell, she's no looker is she.

AnonymousWed 16 August, 2006 10:52am

Good news. There is now an alternative.

see www.irextechnologies.com for their Iliad product. It turns out Sony use iRex technology for the their eReader. You can order one over the net and from what I can see it has superior features - screen size, 16 grey scale, battery life, etc

Bit more expensive but you get more for your money.

AnonymousThu 31 August, 2006 12:54pm

The problem with Irex is content. The beauty of the ereader, if I got it right, was the itunes-like availability of books to download. Irex is linked only to classic books (Conan Doyle etc) that are free content.
Content will drive sales - I was hoping for the eReader to replace the weight of books I take on vacation...

AnonymousTue 19 September, 2006 3:40pm

From Irex iLiad forum "Q4 2006 you can expect support for one of the most wide spread ebook formats. More information on this will be announced in due time"

AnonymousSun 14 October, 2007 2:33am

I live in Australia, where the sony Ereader is no closer to release than it is in the UK. However I could easily buy one from Borders, eBay etc.
How easy is it to download books from non Sony sites eg the Gutenberg project? Is the device pretty reliable? ie I'd have it here with no technological support if there were glitches..
Any experience from non-US users of the Ereader greatly appreciated.

AnonymousThu 9 November, 2006 2:38am

Sony got it wrong, again. I own hundreds of e-books in several different formats that are not compatible with the Sony reader. Why should I buy one and have to buy replacement books only available from Sony?

AnonymousFri 1 December, 2006 5:02pm

Hi just wanted to know when the ereader will be available in the UK.

AnonymousMon 1 January, 2007 4:59pm

I have been after a sony reader for almost a YEAR now and just keep getting told it will be out in a couple of months Please when will it be available in the U.K. and how much will the retail price be?

CharlieSat 13 January, 2007 6:59pm

I couldn't wait for a UK release, so got one from Borders in the U.S. It's a great machine and no problem with filling it with books from the Gutenberg project and some from Sony's own site. Currently using a converter to get .lit books onto it as RTFs and PDFs. Fantastic and look forward to a larger version. Ran out of space, so a 1GB card allows a decent choice of books and music. It's like being back 5 years and having a 1st gen ipod for kudos.

MikeMon 12 March, 2007 11:40am

Could anyone (e.g. Charlie) help with these questions?

My mother is partially sighted. Do you think the magnified text would help such a person?
Is the charger suitable for UK voltage?

Many thanks,

Mike

AnonymousWed 11 July, 2007 1:51pm

To Mike - yes, the charger is ok in the UK. Regarding the size of the text, the Reader enlarges twice, the largest of which may still not be suitable for your mother. I need +1.25 lens for reading only and the largest size text is readable for me without glasses. Hope this helps.

deniseMon 9 July, 2007 11:23pm

To Charlie - I too bought a Reader from Borders but am having difficulty getting ebooks. I tried to open an account with the Sony site (Connect) but it's not possible unless you are a US resident. Do you have any suggestions?
Incidentally, the Reader is great.

Peter RobinsonWed 18 July, 2007 3:32pm

I also bought a Sony eReader, and was able to register the device through the supplied Connect Softeware, I was not able to enter my credit card information as it told me I had to be a US resident. I was able to apply my 50.00 dollar credit and purchase books unilt the well ran dry. Oh by the way I'm from Canada. If you can get set up the way I have I think you can purchase eBook gift cards that will work. As long as you can prove you are not a terrorist. I puschased one of the iRex Iliad devices and have no regrets. Yes it's more expensive, it's larger, but at least the display is every bit as good (if not better), and you can purchase eBooks that you can't purchase from Sony. I'll wait until or if Sony decides to make the eBooks avaliable to the rest of the world. If they choose not to more power to them.

Peter Robinson
Montreal, Quebec

AnonymousWed 12 September, 2007 9:50pm

I bought one in the US last December, brought it back to the UK, and registered it with the Sony on line store, using the address of a Hotel I stayed at in the States and my English MBNA card, worked fine, I have purchased a number of e books from Sony on the account with no problems.

AnonymousWed 26 December, 2007 10:41am

I Bought a Sony ebook from ebay and now cant get the books Doh!
Come on Sony, let us download from your american site, or can anyone let me know where I can download the books from.

AnonymousFri 25 July, 2008 11:42am

Just had a look at www.sony.co.uk - seems to be available in The UK now. and they have partnered with Waterstones!

AnonymousFri 8 August, 2008 11:38pm

Just got ordered my ereader from US, delivery took a couple of days to UK, successfully registered by using US relative address and now downloading my 100 free classics as we "speak", I'm so excited. Think will be available in UK first week Sept.

AnonymousSun 10 August, 2008 8:57am

Why oh why would anybody buy this reader when you have the same ability on every PDA on the market. It's as big as a paper back so why not just carry the book instead? Have used PDA's to read ebooks for years with no problems and they have so much more functionality. Sony have lost the plot with this!!

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