Sony's upcoming eBook readers (with pix)
Just finished a briefing with Sony about their new Reader editions. In the background you see the Touch and two colors of the Pocket edition.
In the foreground you see the upcoming "Daily," due in December. It's like a Touch with a longer screen and 3G (with the usual "free national access via AT&T"). And it includes additional features that Sony wasn't ready to talk about yet. Though the name invites speculation. Oh, and I noticed that the Daily had an "Applications" button that wasn't to be found on the Touch. Tapping it led to an empty page. "Real" reviews will come later (I leave this briefing with two Readers in my satchel). For now, an hour of conversation leaves me feeling very good about Sony's attitude: they seem committed to supporting open content and open bookstores. A Reader will read any Word doc, any PDF, any ePub...and even any storebought or library ebook in ePub format with Adobe ACS4 DRM. My big worry is that publishers will drive consumers to piracy via multiple incompatible DRM systems. I think Sony's making a smart play by keeping their Readers as agnostic as possible. An aside, in parting: I always seem to favor religious terms to describe device independence. I tapped "Agnostic," then considered changing it to "Ecumenical" and then, flustered for a third option, I even considered "Catholic." I defend each of these choices on the basis that they each contain fewer syllables than "Device-Independent." (Plus: it's clearly divine ordinance.)Sent from my iPhone
