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Sony Opens Up More E-Book Formats For Reader
Posted by John Mahoney at 11:08 PM on July 24, 2008
A firmware update scheduled to drop later this week will allow Sony Readers to use the .epub format, an open standard (with DRM support) that has the backing of several major book publishers. This means you'll be able to get books from sources other than Sony's own Connect store, which currently only has one third the titles of Amazon's Kindle store. The Kindle, however, currently uses the Mobipocket format for its Kindle Store books, and does not yet support .epub. [AP]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
berribrand
Posted 3:18 AM 25/7/08
Very nice! I love my Sony Reader even more! Although, admittedly, I have been tempted to get the Kindle due to Amazon's library.
@miocid31: I think this is news to the majority of people who still use PCs. But it does seem that Mac support should be a no brainer, from a business standpoint. Apple heads do seem to love their gadgets quite a bit.
berribrand
What dreams may come
Posted 2:32 AM 25/7/08
anybody knows if there is any way to run this firmware on the sony librie? (which is basically the original Japan-only version of this device)
What dreams may come
cjschmidt
Posted 12:55 AM 25/7/08
@miocid31:
Check out "Calibre" ([calibre.kovidgoyal.net]). It's a fantastic ebook manager/converter for the Sony Reader in OSX. You still need a PC to buy from the Sony Store, but the hope is that ePub books will be sold from OS-agnostic web apps (Borders.com maybe...). The Rader shows up as a mass storage device anyway, so I haven't had any trouble using it with my Mac.
cjschmidt
miocid31
Posted 12:43 AM 25/7/08
w/o mac support is it really news?
miocid31
FredicvsMaximvs
Posted 11:50 PM 24/7/08
Sweet! I'm excited to see what other (if any) changes they've made. Hopefully they've done something to make it handle pdfs better.
FredicvsMaximvs
BaileyJ
Posted 11:50 PM 24/7/08
As soon as they get the refresh down to < 0.4 seconds I'm there. I love these things, but I'd love them more with increased protocol support
BaileyJ
junkmail
Posted 11:26 PM 24/7/08
The firmware is supposed to land this morning. I've been looking forward to this for quite a while now. It's good to see Sony paying attention to supporting current products for once.
junkmail
Aristeia
Posted 11:20 PM 24/7/08
amazon or connect, it's rare to find the books I want in ebook format *legitimately.*
.... i've said too much.
Aristeia
bitgod
Posted 5:06 AM 25/7/08
Dear Sony, make some F'in 64-bit drivers, even Apple did it to make iphones work. kthnx
bitgod
zed0
Posted 6:42 AM 25/7/08
I've always liked the design on the Sony E-Book better. Open it up Sony.
zed0
mikeg916
Posted 7:47 AM 25/7/08
@bitgod:
seconded.
mikeg916
Ikat
Posted 10:40 AM 25/7/08
Anyone know if this will work on first generation eBooks?
And, if some of you want to put whatever onto your eBook, here's how for articles and anything you can put into Word. This is from a Mobireader thread, I think.
Set paper size as eReader
• Page size: 3.54" X 4.72" (90 mm X 120 mm)
• Margins: 0.07" (2 mm)
• Ignore the fact that only a small amount of text shows up via Print Preview
Other (Edit/Select All)
• 16 pt font minimum
• Format - Paragraph
o Line Spacing: Single
o 6pt after paragraph
o Left justify (may not matter)
• Save as Rich Text Format
When done
• Save to eReader folder/desktop
• Drag to Library and then eReader
Ikat
Alchemistmerlin
Posted 3:43 AM 25/7/08
These are getting more and more appealing but I just can't get myself past my love of paper novels.
I feel like one of those old codgers talking about how much better things used to be but I just love the feel of paper, it makes things (Seem) more personal or something.
Plus I love "New Book Smell" and "Musty old book smell". If they make one of these that feels like paper and sprays new book smell in your face when you buy a new book, I'd probably pick one up.
Alchemistmerlin