Digital reading is now enlivened with the introduction of the latest Reader Daily Edition by Sony. The much awaited reading device offers wireless 3G connectivity.
Apart from the daily edition, Sony had introduced the Reader Pocket Edition and the Reader Touch Edition, earlier this month. The Pocket version from Sony features a 5-inch electronic paper display. It is enclosed in an elegant chassis. The Pocket reader is offered in navy blue, rose and silver colors.
“We firmly believe consumers should have choice in every aspect of their digital reading experience. Today, we take another large stride to deliver on that promise. We now have the most affordable devices on the market, the greatest access to free and affordable eBooks through the eBook Store from Sony and our affiliated ecosystem, and now round out our Reader offering with a wireless device that lets consumer purchase and download content on the go,” mentioned Steve Haber, president of Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division.
The Reader Touch Edition is inclusive of a responsive, menu-driven 6-inch touchscreen panel. The device incorporates a stylus pen through which users can navigate, turn pages, highlight and take notes. All these functions can also be performed just by the swipe of a finger. It is available in red, black and silver colors.
With the Reader Daily edition, users can now browse, purchase and download books as well as select newspapers and magazines, owing to the wireless access through AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband network to Sony’s eBook store from anywhere in the U.S. No monthly fees or transaction charges are applied for the basic wireless connectivity. Users also have the option to side load personal documents or content from other sites by means of a USB drive.
The Reader Daily edition boasts of a 7-inch wide, touchscreen display and presents a handy content layout for newspapers and magazines, both in landscape or portrait mode. The portrait view enables users to view about 30-35 lines of text. The device provides high contrast ratio with 16 levels of grayscale, assuring crisp and clear text. The digital reader is equipped with adequate internal memory, capable of holding more than one thousand standard eBooks. Further, it also incorporates expansion slots.
The Reader Daily Edition will be offered in December, 2009. However, the Reader Pocket Edition and the Reader Touch Edition would be made available in a short while. The Reader Pocket is reasonably priced at $199 (approx. Rs. 9,731), whereas the Reader Touch Edition comes with a price tag of $299 (approx. Rs. 14,627). The Reader daily edition will be retailed for $399 (approx. Rs. 19,503).
