Blogs3,454 Entries

Sony Reader e-book device arrives in UK

July 23, 2008

Sony has announced that its Reader - a portable device designed to store and display electronic books - will be available to pre-order from tomorrow. Devices will be fully available from September.

Customers will be able to pre-order their Sony Reader from www.sonystyle.co.uk or bookstore Waterstones from tomorrow.

Pricing for the device had yet to be confirmed when the announced of the UK launch of the device was made today.

The Sony Reader is slightly smaller than a hardback book, weighs 260g and can store up to 160 ebooks on its internal memory. Yet more e-books can be stored on an SD memory card or Sony Memory Stick.

The Reader has an electronic display that can be viewed in direct sunlight or at angles of up to 180 degrees. For those with poor eyesight, there's a built-in text magnifier.

Sony claims the battery life is the equivalent to approximately 6,800 continuous page turns. While this is a bit of a 'how long's a piece of string' measurement, the precise battery life will largely depend on how quickly or slowly you read.

Sony's press office says that a single charge will be sufficient for the average reader to make their way through War And Peace five times.

The Sony Reader can also be used to store and open other documents including PDFs and MS Word as well as JPEG images, or even as a portable drive for the direct transfer of documents, images and other files.

"Reader allows people on the go to carry a wide variety of reading materials whether they are on a flight, in a waiting room, or outdoors," says Sony UK's MD Steve Dowdle.

Waterstones customers will be able to copy e-books to their Sony Reader device via SD card or USB.

E-book titles on offer will include Richard Branson's Business Stripped Bare and Toby Young's How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.

The device is sold with a soft protective case, Sony's eBook Library software, 14 pre-loaded excerpts from new and recent books. Customers who prefer to use their PC or laptop to download e-book titles will be able to copy them to the Reader via aUSB connection. They will also be able to enjoy a free CD-ROM containing 100 classic titles including The Jungle Book, Pride & Prejudice, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Great Expectations.

Sony Reader e-book device

Sony Reader e-book device

Posted by: Carrie-Ann Skinner

Keep up to date by adding PC Advisor New Products to your iGoogle home page or Google Reader

What is this?

<<newer entry  |  older entry>>

Comments

Posted by Simon Dick on July 23, 2008 :

If customers can download straight to the device then it sounds like a new model entirely as the PRS-500/505 have no wireless and have to be used via USB, interesting... I guess they've borrowed ideas from the Kindle :)

Posted by PC Advisor on July 24, 2008 :

Oops - our mistake. In fact, the Sony Reader is still a USB and SD card transfer device.

Have corrected the above story.

New Products
The very latest products - most hot, some not so much - brought to you by PC Advisor's team of gadget-hungry reporters. Remember - you saw it here first.
Email author(s)

Latest entries


Entries by month

Feb10  |  Jan10  |  Dec09  |  Nov09
Oct09  |  Sep09  |  Aug09  |  Jul09
Jun09  |  May09  |  Apr09  |  Mar09
Feb09  |  Jan09  |  Dec08  |  Nov08
Oct08  |  Sep08  |  Aug08  |  Jul08
Jun08  |  May08  |  Apr08  |  Mar08
Feb08  |  Jan08  |  Dec07  |  Nov07
Oct07  |  Sep07  |  Aug07  |  Jul07

Google

Search blogs


Other blogs


 Our RSS feeds

Sponsored Content

  • Take the internet to new places with the Nokia N800
    Communicate how you want to, where you want to with instant messaging, email and internet calling. View movies, browse the internet wirelessly and watch TV on the high-resolution screen and listen through high-quality stereo speakers with headphone jack.
    Buy now