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Sony's PRS-700 Reader Adds Touchscreen, Frontlight
Posted by John Mahoney at 9:18 AM on October 3, 2008
Sony brought out a new Reader tonight in NYC that adds a six-inch touch screen to the E-ink reader, as well as slimming down the case and adding a built-in frontlight. With the touchscreen readers can enter text with a stylus on a full-screen QWERTY for searching, adding notes and annotations to book marks, or just flipping the page with a stylus or finger swipe. It'll hit at the end of October for around $US400. Hit the jump for more impressions.
Text gets entered by tapping an on-screen QWERTY. Highlighting seems easy enough--just drag the stylus over the phrase you want to highlight. You can then easily search for that phrase elsewhere in your book. You can also tap the screen with finger or stylus to zoom in and out of pages. Format support is the same as previous readers, with the same added .epub support.
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 2, 2008- With the latest edition of Sony's Reader Digital Book, announced today, readers can truly let their fingers do the walking.
An interactive touch screen display allows for the most intuitive digital reading experience to date. The new model, PRS-700, will join the PRS-505 model in the Reader family to give consumers a choice of how they would like to read electronically.
Svelte and stylish, the newest Reader still sports the dimensions of a slimmed down paperback book. The textured black casing and soft black cover contribute to its envy-inspiring design. And, at about 10 ounces, it's the perfect way to carry all of your favourite books with you wherever you go.
A sizeable six-inch display with touch screen capability allows booklovers to flip pages with the slide of a finger. In addition, readers can easily search terms within a document or book, create notes using the virtual keyboard and highlight text with the included stylus pen.
Five pre-set text sizes are available so readers can find the one most comfortable for them and for those who need an even closer look, zooming in is as easy as tapping the screen.
The device still features high-resolution, high contrast electronic paper display technology which provides a reading experience very much akin to ink-on-paper. The result is crisp text and graphics that are highly readable, even in bright sunlight. For times when ambient light is not available, Sony is the first to offer a built-in LED reading light.
Expanded memory offers enough capacity to store about 350 average digital books. Using optional removable Memory Stick Duo media or SD memory cards, this Reader can hold literally thousands of books and documents.
"Readers now have another choice in digital books," said Steve Haber, president of Sony's Digital Reading Business Division. "This new model has the eye-popping design and intuitive functionality that people have come to expect from Sony."
Family Resemblance
Like its close relative the PRS-505model, the new 700 model uses minimal power and can sustain up to 7,500 pages of continuous reading on a single battery charge. It supports multiple file formats for eBooks, personal documents and music. With the included eBook Library 2.5 PC software, you can easily transfer Adobe PDF documents with reflow capability, Microsoft Word documents, BBeB files and other text file formats to the Reader. The device can store and display EPUB files and work with Adobe Digital Editions software, opening it up to almost a limitless quantity of content.
Improved Sony eBook Store
Sony's eBook store will also have a new face. This month, a re-designed page layout with more prominent book cover art will improve the overall visual appeal of the site. A streamlined checkout process along with updated search and discovery make finding and purchasing an eBook a breeze.
Pricing and Availability
The new Reader will be available next month for about $400. It will come complete with a USB cable, eBook Library PC companion software and a color-coordinated, protective soft cover. Both the PRS-505 and the PRS-700 models along with their optional accessories can be purchased direct through www.sonystyle.com, at more than 40 Sony Style® stores nationwide and at authorised retailers across the country.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
Anton Prinsloo
Posted October 25, 2008 9:15 AM
I read your comments re teh PRS 505 and how you aquired it. Have you any idea whether this will be for sale here in Australia?
Skorpius
Posted 9:53 AM 3/10/08
@markarian: Yep. As someone who prefers actual books, in order for me to buy one of these, it would have to be sub $100. I wouldn't mind using it to view my own .doc files and to read people's manuscripts.
Skorpius
Skorpius
Posted 9:51 AM 3/10/08
@daftrok: Perhaps useful for textbooks, but there is no way I'd give up a traditional book.
Skorpius
bitgod
Posted 9:51 AM 3/10/08
This is why I waited on the upgrade the 500 to a 505 offer. I'll look at this some more, but I might go for a cheap 505, cuz I don't see any killers here. I don't need to touch the screen to read, I don't want to have fingerprints on the screen when I swipe, and the light doesn't look that much better than the new add-on for the 505.
bitgod
brianhatch
Posted 9:51 AM 3/10/08
hopefully this will allow you to search through PDFs. I bought a prs-505 hoping to replace my technical library, but I sorely miss the convenience of searching through PDF files.
brianhatch
ripfire
Posted 9:49 AM 3/10/08
@daftrok: I totally agree. The question is now, will there be format incompatibilities with different devices? Cuz that would kill it.
ripfire
ng12345
Posted 9:36 AM 3/10/08
now i need to sell my prs-505 and upgrade!
i agree they are a little to expensive -- and unfortunately I haven't been getting as much use out of it as I had hoped.
If only it had internet access a la Kindle -- then it would be perfect (imho kindle = ugly)
ng12345
Gilbert
Posted 9:35 AM 3/10/08
I am a proud owner and avid user of the PRS-505. Ever since the last update with PDF reflow, it has been a wonder.
This new update adds some seriously useful features (depending on how well they're implemented), but at this point, I'm so happy with my much-less-expensive 505, that I can't see myself upgrading.
Next up: NATIVE MAC SUPPORT!!!!!
Gilbert
markarian
Posted 9:32 AM 3/10/08
e-book readers=too expensive.
markarian
daftrok
Posted 9:31 AM 3/10/08
This is the future. No more wasting paper on books or having to spend extra money on new "editions" of textbooks. eBooks are the mp3's of textbooks: slowly but surely the sales of textbooks will go down and eBooks will reign.
daftrok
jerfrank
Posted 10:10 AM 3/10/08
Same here. How will it handle 2 page scanned PDFs? If anyone knows how the 505 did it, can you leave a comment?
jerfrank
anti-hello-kitty
Posted 10:06 AM 3/10/08
@daftrok: eBooks will just co-exist with regular books, eBooks will never replace printed books. This would be great for students, though.
anti-hello-kitty
PhysicsMan
Posted 10:05 AM 3/10/08
When you guys do a review of this reader (or any other reader for that matter), I'd really love to see how it renders some math in pdf files. (Or maybe they simply can't at all) Being in the business of physics I have alot of math and physics texts in the form of pdfs that I would love to have on me all the time.
PhysicsMan
Scaramanga
Posted 10:44 AM 3/10/08
I own an early Sony Ebook reader, and its pretty snazzy. The built-in LED light function is the most important (the reading light add-on for the 505 isn't anything to write home about; I have it). The price is still an issue, they really need to reduce this price to below $200 instead of adding to a hundred bucks to the price.
Scaramanga
dedalus987
Posted 10:39 AM 3/10/08
so getting this for self x-mas gift.
dedalus987
zmjjmz
Posted 10:56 AM 3/10/08
It would be cooler is I could run native code on it.
zmjjmz
rparvez
Posted 10:51 AM 3/10/08
I'm hopeful for these replacing textbooks in the future, but the tech doesn't seem to be there yet. All the textbooks I have (health sciences) are full of tables and diagrams that:
A) need to be in color
B) need to be on a textbook sized page.
OTOH, these things look to be awesome for leisure reading. Unfortuantely I'm kinda torn...
The techie-techie in me (I am commenting on Gizmodo, for chrissakes) loves the idea of e-ink and a whole library at your fingertips. But there's something about a well-worn real deal paperback that I'm having trouble giving up.
Of course, the wealth of free e-texts on the net does even the score nicely. Count me in, I guess.
rparvez
swpoison
Posted 11:33 AM 3/10/08
Yeah I'm not impressed. This idea that adding a touch screen is an update is getting annoying.
swpoison
Final
Posted 12:02 PM 3/10/08
Last version was sexier.
When they get down to a around a hundred bucks and start getting the rights to out of print books then I'll be interested. Still looks better then the Kindle though.
Final
Rodime
Posted 12:15 PM 3/10/08
@markarian: no, no they're not ... if you factor in the 'cost' of pirating ebooks ;)
Rodime
What dreams may come
Posted 12:40 PM 3/10/08
never again will I buy a Sony ereader, after being left in the dust with my librie I will keep reading ebooks on my ipod touch, thank you
What dreams may come
JohnDeere
Posted 12:37 PM 3/10/08
for that price id just get a netbook.
JohnDeere
Noobs-R-Us
Posted 1:11 PM 3/10/08
Do they have a trade in program for old 500 and 505 owners?
Noobs-R-Us
SF_iris
Posted 1:29 PM 3/10/08
@markarian: I just bought a Kindle, and while yes, I think it was vastly over-priced, it is invaluable for my frequent traveling. I no longer have to pack 2-3 books, which is increasingly important given the increase in bag fees.
SF_iris
Final
Posted 2:46 PM 3/10/08
@Noobs-R-Us: Or is there going to be a price break for them?
Final
weatherman
Posted 3:06 PM 3/10/08
Blah blah blah. "I wish an eBook cost only $100" and I wish an iBook only cost $100 too. If wishes were fishes...
I think this update on the Sony Reader is pretty impressive. On a hardware level, I think it beats the Kindle, but for the wireless. The touchscreen is much more elegant than the Kindle's hard-keyboard and offers a lot more flexibility. It's an important update for educational and professional users of eBook readers. The frontlighting is pretty nice too, if it works in practice (which I'm a little skeptical about). I don't know if it's worth the upgrade, but it's certainly an interesting device.
weatherman
geek-to-be
Posted 3:00 PM 3/10/08
Who's the moron who highlights "THIS IS THE"?
The front light is a nice addition though.
geek-to-be
winsucker
Posted 8:23 PM 3/10/08
paper should be wasted on toilet paper only!! :B
winsucker
Yznel
Posted 10:30 PM 3/10/08
@winsucker:
I think you've stumbled on the next great gadget - electronic toilet paper!
Giz, please commence a search for this next great thing...
Yznel
dopoognora
Posted 10:51 PM 3/10/08
I love the idea of digital books, however the problem is publishers have yet to fully support the eformat. Yes, the list is growing but its still inconsistent. I also have a hard time shelling out 400 for a dedicated reader when my iPhone has eReader applications.
dopoognora
Reitsuki
Posted 11:14 PM 3/10/08
@JohnDeere:
I have a netbook. It's alright for reading on, if you have a place to set it, but even my little Eee is really too small to comfortably hold in one hand for long periods of time, and it just doesn't work if you wanna read it laying on your side or something. That's what I use my Axim for currently, but both have the same problem - battery life. The ebook readers have the battery life problem mostly licked.
Reitsuki
Reitsuki
Posted 11:11 PM 3/10/08
Without seeing a better spec sheet than a press release, but it looks like it doesn't support Mobi, making it worthless to me. Sad.
Reitsuki
weatherman
Posted 1:37 AM 4/10/08
@markarian: bought mine used for $125 and it's been worth every penny.
weatherman
weatherman
Posted 1:23 AM 4/10/08
@anti-hello-kitty: That's like saying "we'll always have 8-track!"
I get what you're saying - we've had books for thousands of years and they're simple and cheap to produce. But even today we're finding that many people are completely comfortable reading on LCD screens, and epaper is even better. 50 years from now when all the people who didn't grow up hacking away on computers are dead, there will be little reason to still use that old medium and plenty of reasons not to.
So it may not happen in this decade, or for a long time, but paper will die. Just like 8-tracks and typewriters.
weatherman
Feigr
Posted 1:52 AM 4/10/08
Dammit, is it so hard to make it look like a PADD from Star Trek TNG? I have no interest in these until they look like PADDS.
Feigr
kidlucrative
Posted 2:26 AM 4/10/08
@markarian: you must be armenian. for more than one reason.
kidlucrative
mikeg916
Posted 2:15 AM 4/10/08
@PhysicsMan: if you can render the math in the pdf, then the reader can render it sionce the pdf is basically just a picture.
mikeg916
mikeg916
Posted 2:14 AM 4/10/08
@markarian:
eRaders are expensive only if you factor in the cost of the device.
instead factor in the cost for storing all of the books, disposing all of the books, paying for distribution for all of the books, etc.
personally, having the ability to carry a virtual LIBRARIES worth of books around with me, trumps anything that a physical book can do.
my eReader has 800 books on it, and i can be reading several at the same time if i like, and with the ability to get reader formatted newspapers and magazines in the near future (or now depending), i no longer need to carry those around either.
throw in the ability to use 16gb expansion cards, and the average reader can have literally, a small public libraries worth of books in a compact device.
mikeg916
mikeg916
Posted 2:10 AM 4/10/08
@ripfire: Kindle ? Yes!
eReader? No!
The sony device even allows reading of the new open format via an update for the older models and built in to the newer models.
this means that just like in music, authors now no longer are beholden to publishers to get their books published for pennies on the dollar.
Now, a good author could simply self publish in an open source format and sell for considerably less via download over the internet, and still make more money than they would via classical publishing methods.
of course, authors, like music artists, are basically too stupid to do this as they fall victim to the "pirating will steal all of your money" idea that gets floated by various **AA organizations who are only out to "protect" the artists.....
mikeg916
daftrok
Posted 2:07 AM 4/10/08
@anti-hello-kitty:
Really? Just like how CD's co-exist with mp3s? Slowly but surely EVERYTHING is going to be done digitally.
daftrok
StephanoFeardaddy
Posted 11:11 AM 3/10/08
@PhysicsMan and jerfrank: The only problem with equation-heavy texts and scanned in pages is that the words and equations will be small. Imagine looking at a full page on something as small as this screen is. The zoom doesn't actually zoom in, it re-renders the page with larger font. But to do this it has to know the words are in the text. It works great with most pdfs, but it can screw up equations and wont work at all with a scanned in page. Whenever I show it to my physics friends they have the same questions, and usually they decide that it's not worth it for reading papers. I agree. But for normal books, it's awesome. My favourite gadget by far. It comes with me everywhere.
StephanoFeardaddy
ExtendedRockyMontage
Posted 7:30 AM 4/10/08
@daftrok: Comparing the two media is inane. Listen to a CD, listen to an MP3, what's the difference to your ear? None. The only difference is portability, which deems the digital medium the winner. Read a book, read an e-reader, what's the difference to your eyes and hands: still significant.
Also, books are a much more respected and tangible collectible in world culture than say, a CD collection. They're always stylish, they're always respected, they're never outdated, just more valuable with their age.
Besides, your argument is humorously over-focused on the good ol' US of A. What do you think is more popular in South America, Africa, China, India, (aka, most of the world), books or e-readers? Do you think that countries without computers, forget internet, will be catching on this fad in the next 25 years? 50 years? As someone who works in getting books to third-world countries, because often they don't have near adequate supplies, I can tell you they have a long way to go.
I suppose if you literally mean "slowly but surely" as in sometime eventually, you'll probably be right, but for the near future e-readers aren't even close.
ExtendedRockyMontage